Jury in Prominent Down Under Homicide Case Visits Shoreline Where Deceased Was Found
Jurors involved in a high-profile Queensland homicide case have traveled to the isolated shore where the victim was discovered.
The 24-year-old victim was multiple times stabbed with a bladed weapon and placed in a shallow grave with little or no hope of surviving, the jury has heard.
Her body were found by her father the next day on Wangetti Beach – a section of coastline nestled between the popular destinations of Cairns and Port Douglas.
The accused, 41, denies killing Ms Cordingley on a weekend in October 2018 in Far North Queensland.
Jury Inspection to Crime Scene
The jury of 10 men and two women plus three back-up jurors visited the location along with the judge and legal counsel on Monday morning in Queensland.
In a nod to the tropical conditions and temperatures above 30C, Justice Lincoln Crowley wore a T-shirt, athletic wear and trainers rather than traditional court attire.
Both the prosecuting and defence barristers selected polo shirts, bottoms and baseball caps.
Location Particulars
The jurors were led around 1.2km along the beach to observe where Ms Cordingley's remains were uncovered.
Upon arrival, as they arrived by bus, four markers indicated where the vehicle had been parked.
The trip was intended to help the jurors become acquainted with important sites in the trial and no testimony was given.
Background of the Trial
Last week, the Cairns Supreme Court heard that the day after Ms Cordingley's body were found, the accused flew from Australia to India – abandoning his spouse, family and parents.
He was out of contact until he was apprehended years after, the state said.
Prosecution Argument
It is claimed that the defendant, who was working as a nurse in the community of Innisfail, near Cairns, had a altercation with Ms Cordingley.
The pharmacy worker was found wearing a bikini, with all her other clothes and belongings absent.
Those objects were taken by the killer to avoid detection, prosecutors contend.
Her pet, Indie, which Ms Cordingley had brought along for a stroll, was located tied up to a tree concealed in bushland about 30 metres from the grave.
The weapon was ever recovered, and no one have been found.
But the state says the evidence – though circumstantial – was made up of findings that pointed to Mr Singh "excluding other suspects."
This will include evidence that DNA obtained from a object at the location was 3.8 billion times more likely to have come from Mr Singh than a unrelated individual of the public.
The court has already heard evidence indicating that Ms Cordingley's phone left the beach after the killing – and that its movements matched those of a vehicle owned by the defendant.
Mr Singh's quick exit from Australia also pointed to his involvement, the state has claimed.
Defense Position
"As the police were discovering Toyah's remains, he was organizing... a hurriedly arranged single journey back to India," Mr Crane said previously as he began arguments.
The defense is yet to provided testimony, but in his initial statement, the defense attorney the lawyer portrayed his client as a "placid" and "compassionate" man, who was in the "incorrect location at the wrong time."
He also foreshadowed testimony to come subsequently that, after his apprehension, Mr Singh told an undercover officer he had witnessed two masked men attack Ms Cordingley and then had run away in terror – something he said was his "biggest mistake."
The defense attorney has also said he will testify about individuals "identified and unidentified" who should come under suspicion.
Additional Testimony
Ms Cordingley's boyfriend at the time, the witness, whom authorities quickly ruled out as a possible suspect, was among those who gave evidence last week.
The court was informed he was an initial person of interest – and that he had been interrogated from Ms Cordingley's father about whether he was implicated in his partner's disappearance, prior to her body were discovered.
Images depicting the witness on a hike with a friend on the date Ms Cordingley went missing have been presented to the court, with an specialist saying he was certain the pictures were authentic and had not been doctored in any way.
The case will return to the more conventional setting of the courtroom on Tuesday.
