Panel of Jurors in Prominent Australian Murder Case Visits Shoreline At Which Deceased Was Discovered
Jurors involved in a high-profile Australian homicide case have been taken to the remote beach where the young woman was located.
Toyah Cordingley was repeatedly stabbed with a bladed weapon and placed in a shallow resting place with little or no hope of surviving, the court has been told.
The remains were found by a family member the following day on Wangetti Beach – a section of coastline nestled between the tourist centres of Cairns and Port Douglas.
The accused, 41, denies killing Ms Cordingley on a Sunday afternoon in October 2018 in northern Australia.
Court Visit to Crime Scene
The panel of 10 men and two women plus three back-up jurors visited the location along with the presiding officer and barristers on Monday morning in Queensland.
In a acknowledgment of the hot climate and sweltering heat, the judge wore a casual top, sport shorts and trainers rather than traditional court attire.
Both the prosecuting and defence barristers chose casual shirts, shorts and baseball caps.
Scene Particulars
The jurors were led around three-quarters of a mile along the beach to see where Ms Cordingley's body were uncovered.
Earlier, as they traveled to the site, 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 case and no testimony was given.
Context of the Case
Last week, the court was informed that the day after Ms Cordingley's body were found, the accused departed from Australia to India – abandoning his wife, family and relatives.
He was not heard from until he was apprehended years after, the state said.
State Case
It is claimed that Mr Singh, who was employed in healthcare in the town of Innisfail, south of Cairns, had a confrontation with Ms Cordingley.
The victim was found wearing a bikini, with all her other clothes and belongings missing.
Those objects were taken by the killer to avoid detection, the prosecution allege.
Her pet, Indie, which Ms Cordingley had taken to the beach for a walk, was found tied up to a post hidden in shrubland about 100 feet from the grave.
The weapon was found, and no eyewitnesses have been identified.
But the state says the crown's case – though indirect – was comprised proof that pointed to Mr Singh "excluding other suspects."
This will involve evidence that genetic material obtained from a object at the location was 3.8 billion times more probable to have originated from Mr Singh than a unrelated individual of the public.
The jury has previously been told evidence indicating that Ms Cordingley's phone departed the scene after the incident – and that its travel corresponded with those of a blue Alfa Romeo owned by the accused.
Mr Singh's sudden departure from Australia also suggested his involvement, the state has claimed.
Defence Stance
"While authorities were finding Toyah's remains, he was organizing... a hurriedly arranged single journey back to India," the prosecutor said last week as he opened his case.
The defence is yet to provided testimony, but in his opening address, Mr Singh's barrister Greg McGuire described his client as a "calm" and "compassionate" man, who was in the "wrong place at the unfortunate moment."
He also hinted at evidence to come later in the trial that, after his arrest, Mr Singh told an plainclothes agent he had seen two masked men assault Ms Cordingley and then had fled in terror – something he said was his "gravest error."
The defense attorney has also said he will testify about other people "identified and unidentified" who should come under suspicion.
Further Testimony
Ms Cordingley's boyfriend at the time, Marco Heidenreich, whom authorities quickly ruled out as a possible suspect, was among those who gave evidence previously.
The trial was informed he was an immediate police suspect – and that he had faced questions from Ms Cordingley's parent about whether he was implicated in his girlfriend's vanishing, even before her remains were found.
Images showing the witness on a hike with a friend on the date Ms Cordingley disappeared have been shown to the jury, with an expert saying he was certain the photos were authentic and had not been altered in any manner.
The case will return to the standard environment of the courthouse on Tuesday.