Jury in High-Profile Australian Homicide Trial Tours Beach Where Victim Was Found
Jurors involved in a widely publicized Queensland murder trial have been taken to the remote beach where the young woman was located.
Toyah Cordingley was multiple times stabbed with a sharp object and placed in a sandy grave with little or no chance of survival, the jury has been told.
The remains were discovered by her father the next day on Wangetti Beach – a section of shoreline between the tourist centres of Cairns and Port Douglas.
The accused, 41, denies killing Ms Cordingley on a Sunday afternoon in October 2018 in Far North Queensland.
Jury Visit to Crime Scene
The panel of 10 men and two women plus three back-up jurors attended the location along with the presiding officer and barristers on Monday morning in Queensland.
In a nod to the hot climate and temperatures above 30C, the judge opted for a T-shirt, athletic wear and trainers rather than a wig and robes.
Both the lead prosecution and defense attorneys selected polo shirts, bottoms and headwear.
Location Details
The jurors were led around 1.2km north up the sand to see where Ms Cordingley's body were discovered.
Earlier, as they traveled to the site, several red and white cones indicated where the victim's car had been left.
The visit was intended to help the jurors become acquainted with key locations in the trial and no testimony was given.
Context of the Trial
Previously, the court heard that the day after Ms Cordingley's body were found, Mr Singh flew from Australia to India – leaving behind his spouse, three children and parents.
He was not heard from until he was arrested four years later, the state said.
State Argument
It is alleged that the defendant, who was employed in healthcare in the community of Innisfail, south of Cairns, had a altercation with Ms Cordingley.
The pharmacy worker was found wearing a swimwear, with her attire and most of her possessions absent.
Those objects were taken by the assailant to avoid detection, the prosecution contend.
Her pet, Indie, which Ms Cordingley had taken to the beach for a walk, was found secured to a post concealed in bushland about 30 metres from the burial site.
No murder weapon was found, and no eyewitnesses have been found.
But the state says the evidence – though indirect – was made up of findings that pointed to Mr Singh "excluding other suspects."
This will involve evidence that DNA obtained from a object at the location was extremely more likely to have come from Mr Singh than a random member of the public.
The jury has previously been told testimony suggesting that Ms Cordingley's mobile device departed the scene after the killing – and that its travel corresponded with those of a blue Alfa Romeo owned by the defendant.
Mr Singh's quick exit from Australia also suggested his guilt, the state has argued.
Defence Position
"While authorities were discovering Toyah's body, he was organizing... a hurriedly arranged single journey back to India," the prosecutor said previously as he began arguments.
The defense is yet to provided testimony, but in his opening address, Mr Singh's barrister the lawyer portrayed his defendant as a "calm" and "caring" man, who was in the "incorrect location at the unfortunate moment."
He also hinted at testimony to come subsequently that, after his apprehension, Mr Singh told an plainclothes agent he had seen assailants assault Ms Cordingley and then had run away in terror – something he said was his "biggest mistake."
The defense attorney has also said he will give evidence about individuals "identified and unidentified" who should come under investigation.
Additional Testimony
Ms Cordingley's partner, the witness, whom police excluded as a possible suspect, was among those who gave evidence previously.
The trial heard he was an immediate police suspect – and that he had faced questions from Ms Cordingley's parent about whether he was implicated in his partner's vanishing, even before her body were discovered.
Photographs showing the witness on a hike with a friend on the day Ms Cordingley disappeared have been presented to the court, with an expert saying he was certain the photos were genuine and had not been doctored in any manner.
The case will return to the standard environment of the courthouse on Tuesday.
