Panel of Jurors in Prominent Down Under Homicide Trial Visits Shoreline At Which Victim Was Discovered

Wangetti Beach scene
The remains of Toyah Cordingley was discovered on a remote coastline in northern Queensland in 2018.

Members of the jury involved in a widely publicized Australian homicide case have been taken to the remote beach where the young woman was discovered.

The 24-year-old victim was repeatedly attacked with a sharp object and buried in a shallow grave with little or no hope of surviving, the court has been told.

The remains were discovered by a family member the next day on Wangetti Beach – a section of coastline between the popular destinations of Cairns and Port Douglas.

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

Jury Visit to Crime Scene

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

In a acknowledgment of the hot climate and temperatures above 30C, the judge wore a T-shirt, athletic wear and sneakers rather than traditional court attire.

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

Location Details

The court members were led around 1.2km along the beach to see where Ms Cordingley's body were discovered.

Upon arrival, as they traveled to the site, four red and white cones showed where the vehicle had been parked.

The visit was intended to help the panel become familiar with key locations in the case and no official evidence was presented.

Background of the Trial

Last week, the court heard that the day after Ms Cordingley's remains were found, the accused flew from Australia to India – abandoning his wife, family and parents.

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

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

State Case

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

The pharmacy worker was found wearing a swimwear, with her attire and belongings absent.

Those items were taken by the assailant to avoid detection, the prosecution allege.

Her pet, Indie, which Ms Cordingley had taken to the beach for a stroll, was found tied up to a tree concealed in shrubland about 30 metres from the grave.

The weapon was found, and no eyewitnesses have been identified.

But the state says the crown's case – though indirect – was made up of findings that pointed to Mr Singh "and eliminated others."

This will include evidence that genetic material recovered from a object at the scene was extremely more probable to have come from Mr Singh than a unrelated individual of the population.

The court has already heard evidence indicating that Ms Cordingley's phone left the scene after the killing – and that its movements matched those of a vehicle belonging to the defendant.

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

Defense Position

"While authorities were discovering Toyah's remains, he was arranging... a hurriedly arranged one way trip back to India," Mr Crane said previously as he opened his case.

The defence is has not provided testimony, but in his opening address, the defense attorney the lawyer portrayed his defendant as a "calm" and "caring" man, who was in the "incorrect location at the unfortunate moment."

He also foreshadowed evidence to come later in the trial that, after his apprehension, Mr Singh told an plainclothes agent he had seen assailants attack Ms Cordingley and then had run away in fear – something he said was his "biggest mistake."

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

Further Testimony

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

The trial heard he was an initial police suspect – and that he had faced questions from Ms Cordingley's father about whether he was implicated in his girlfriend's vanishing, even before her remains were discovered.

Images depicting Mr Heidenreich on a walk with a companion on the day Ms Cordingley disappeared have been presented to the court, with an specialist saying he was certain the pictures were genuine and had not been doctored in any manner.

The trial will return to the more conventional setting of the courthouse on the next day.

Michael Bernard
Michael Bernard

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