Panel of Jurors in High-Profile Australian Homicide Trial Tours Beach Where Deceased Was Found

Members of the jury involved in a widely publicized Australian murder trial have been taken to the isolated shore where the young woman was located.

Toyah Cordingley was multiple times stabbed with a bladed weapon and buried in a sandy resting place with minimal hope of surviving, the jury has heard.

Her body were discovered by her father the next day on Wangetti Beach – a section of coastline nestled between the popular destinations of Cairns and Port Douglas.

Rajwinder Singh, 41, denies murdering Ms Cordingley on a weekend in October 2018 in northern Australia.

Court Inspection to Beach

The panel of 10 men and two women plus three back-up jurors visited the location along with the judge and barristers on the start of the week in Queensland.

In a acknowledgment of the hot climate and sweltering heat, Justice Lincoln Crowley wore a T-shirt, sport shorts and trainers rather than traditional court attire.

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

Location Particulars

The jurors were guided 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 showed where the victim's car had been left.

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

Background of the Trial

Last week, the Cairns Supreme Court heard that the day after Ms Cordingley's remains were discovered, Mr Singh flew from Australia to India – abandoning his wife, family and relatives.

He was out of contact until he was apprehended four years later, the prosecution said.

Prosecution Case

It is alleged that the defendant, who was employed in healthcare in the town of Innisfail, near Cairns, had a confrontation with Ms Cordingley.

The pharmacy worker was found wearing a bikini, with all her other clothes and most of her possessions missing.

Those objects were removed by the assailant to conceal evidence, the prosecution contend.

Her pet, Indie, which Ms Cordingley had taken to the beach for a walk, was located tied up to a post concealed in bushland about 30 metres from the burial site.

No murder weapon was found, and no eyewitnesses have been identified.

But the prosecution says the crown's case – though circumstantial – was made up of proof that indicated Mr Singh "excluding other suspects."

This will involve testimony that DNA obtained from a object at the scene was extremely more likely to have come from Mr Singh than a unrelated individual of the population.

The court has already heard evidence suggesting that Ms Cordingley's mobile device departed the beach after the incident – and that its movements matched those of a blue Alfa Romeo owned by the accused.

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

Defense Stance

"As the police were finding Toyah's remains, he was organizing... a hurriedly arranged single journey back to India," the prosecutor said last week as he began arguments.

The defense is has not provided testimony, but in his initial statement, the defense attorney the lawyer portrayed his defendant as a "placid" and "caring" man, who was in the "wrong place at the unfortunate moment."

He also foreshadowed evidence to come later in the trial that, after his arrest, Mr Singh informed an undercover officer he had witnessed two masked men assault Ms Cordingley and then had run away in terror – something he said was his "gravest error."

Mr McGuire has also said he will testify about individuals "identified and unidentified" who should come under suspicion.

Further Evidence

Ms Cordingley's partner, the witness, whom authorities excluded as a possible suspect, was one who gave evidence previously.

The trial was informed he was an immediate police suspect – and that he had been interrogated from Ms Cordingley's father about whether he was implicated in his partner's vanishing, prior to her remains were found.

Photographs depicting the witness on a hike with a companion on the date Ms Cordingley went missing have been presented to the jury, with an specialist saying he was certain the photos were genuine and had not been altered in any way.

The trial will resume to the more conventional setting of the courthouse on Tuesday.