Jury in Prominent Down Under Murder Trial Visits Beach At Which Victim Was Discovered

Wangetti Beach scene
The body of Toyah Cordingley were found on a secluded coastline in northern Queensland back in 2018.

Members of the jury involved in a high-profile Australian murder trial have traveled to the remote shore where the victim was located.

Toyah Cordingley was multiple times attacked with a sharp object and buried in a shallow resting place with minimal hope of surviving, the court has been told.

The remains were discovered by her father the next day on Wangetti Beach – a section of shoreline nestled between the tourist centres of Cairns and Port Douglas.

Rajwinder Singh, 41, denies killing Ms Cordingley on a weekend in October 2018 in Far North Queensland.

Court Inspection to Crime Scene

The jury of 10 men and two women plus several back-up jurors visited the location along with the judge and legal counsel on Monday morning local time.

In a nod to the tropical conditions and temperatures above 30C, the judge opted for a casual top, athletic wear and trainers rather than traditional court attire.

Both the prosecuting and defence barristers selected polo shirts, bottoms and headwear.

Location Particulars

The jurors were led around three-quarters of a mile north up the sand to observe where Ms Cordingley's remains were discovered.

Earlier, as they arrived by bus, several red and white cones indicated where the victim's car had been parked.

The trip was designed to help the jurors become acquainted with key locations in the case and no testimony was given.

Background of the Trial

Last week, the Cairns Supreme Court was informed that the day after Ms Cordingley's body were found, Mr Singh departed from Australia to India – abandoning his spouse, three children and parents.

He was out of contact until he was arrested years after, the state said.

Court officials at the beach
The judge with barristers and other court officials at Wangetti Beach.

Prosecution Argument

It is claimed that Mr Singh, who was working as a nurse in the town of Innisfail, near Cairns, had a confrontation with Ms Cordingley.

The victim was discovered wearing a bikini, with her attire and belongings absent.

Those objects were removed by the killer to avoid detection, the prosecution allege.

Her pet, Indie, which Ms Cordingley had brought along for a stroll, was found tied up to a tree concealed in shrubland about 100 feet from the grave.

The weapon was ever recovered, and no one have been found.

But the state says the evidence – though indirect – was comprised findings that pointed to Mr Singh "excluding other suspects."

This will involve evidence that DNA recovered from a stick at the scene was extremely more likely to have come from Mr Singh than a unrelated individual of the public.

The court has previously been told evidence indicating that Ms Cordingley's mobile device departed the beach after the killing – and that its travel corresponded with those of a vehicle owned by the defendant.

Mr Singh's sudden departure from Australia also suggested his involvement, the state has argued.

Defence Stance

"As the police were finding Toyah's body, he was arranging... a hurriedly arranged one way trip back to India," the prosecutor said previously as he opened his case.

The defense is has not present any evidence, but in his opening address, the defense attorney Greg McGuire portrayed his defendant as a "placid" and "compassionate" man, who was in the "wrong place at the unfortunate moment."

He also foreshadowed testimony to come later in the trial that, after his apprehension, Mr Singh informed an plainclothes agent he had seen two masked men assault Ms Cordingley and then had run away in fear – something he said was his "gravest error."

The defense attorney has also said he will give evidence about other people "both known and unknown" who should come under suspicion.

Further Evidence

Ms Cordingley's partner, Marco Heidenreich, whom authorities excluded as a person of interest, was among those who gave evidence last week.

The court was informed he was an immediate person of interest – and that he had been interrogated from Ms Cordingley's parent about whether he was implicated in his girlfriend's disappearance, prior to her remains were found.

Photographs showing the witness on a hike with a companion on the day Ms Cordingley went missing have been presented to the court, with an specialist saying he was confident the photos were authentic and had not been doctored in any way.

The case will return to the standard environment of the courtroom on Tuesday.

Russell Robertson
Russell Robertson

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