Panel of Jurors in Prominent Down Under Homicide Case Visits Beach At Which Victim Was Discovered
Jurors involved in a high-profile Queensland homicide case have traveled to the isolated beach where the victim was discovered.
Toyah Cordingley was repeatedly attacked with a bladed weapon and buried in a shallow resting place with little or no chance of survival, the jury has been told.
The remains were found by her father the following day on Wangetti Beach – a stretch of coastline between the tourist centres of Cairns and Port Douglas.
The accused, 41, denies killing Ms Cordingley on a weekend in October 2018 in northern Australia.
Jury Visit to Beach
The jury of 12 individuals plus several alternates attended the beach along with the judge and legal counsel on the start of the week local time.
In a nod to the hot climate and temperatures above 30C, the judge opted for a T-shirt, sport shorts and sneakers rather than traditional court attire.
Both the lead prosecution and defence barristers selected polo shirts, bottoms and headwear.
Location Particulars
The court members were led around three-quarters of a mile north up the sand to see where Ms Cordingley's remains were discovered.
Earlier, as they arrived by bus, several markers indicated where the victim's car had been parked.
The visit was intended to help the jurors become acquainted with important sites in the trial and no testimony was presented.
Context of the Trial
Last week, the court heard that the following day Ms Cordingley's remains were found, the accused flew from Australia to India – leaving behind his spouse, family and parents.
He was out of contact until he was arrested four years later, the prosecution said.
Prosecution Argument
It is alleged that the defendant, who was employed in healthcare in the town 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 removed by the assailant to conceal evidence, prosecutors contend.
Her dog, Indie, which Ms Cordingley had brought along for a walk, was found secured to a tree concealed in shrubland about 30 metres from the grave.
The weapon was found, and no eyewitnesses have been identified.
But the prosecution says the evidence – though circumstantial – was made up of proof that pointed to Mr Singh "and eliminated others."
This will include evidence that DNA recovered from a object at the location was extremely more likely to have originated from Mr Singh than a unrelated individual of the population.
The jury has previously been told evidence indicating that Ms Cordingley's phone left the scene after the incident – and that its movements matched those of a blue Alfa Romeo belonging to the accused.
Mr Singh's sudden departure from Australia also suggested his guilt, the state has claimed.
Defense Position
"While authorities were discovering Toyah's body, he was organizing... a hurriedly arranged one way trip back to India," the prosecutor said previously as he opened his case.
The defense is has not provided testimony, but in his opening address, Mr Singh's barrister Greg McGuire described his defendant as a "placid" and "caring" man, who was in the "incorrect location at the wrong time."
He also hinted at testimony to come subsequently that, after his arrest, Mr Singh told an undercover officer he had witnessed two masked men assault Ms Cordingley and then had fled in fear – something he said was his "gravest error."
Mr McGuire has also said he will give evidence about individuals "identified and unidentified" who should come under investigation.
Additional Evidence
Ms Cordingley's boyfriend at the time, the witness, whom police excluded as a person of interest, was one who testified last week.
The trial was informed he was an initial person of interest – and that he had been interrogated from Ms Cordingley's parent about whether he was involved in his partner's vanishing, even before her remains were discovered.
Photographs depicting Mr Heidenreich on a walk with a friend on the day Ms Cordingley disappeared have been shown to the jury, with an specialist saying he was certain the pictures were genuine and had not been altered in any manner.
The case will return to the more conventional setting of the courthouse on the next day.