Panel of Jurors in High-Profile Down Under Murder Trial Tours Shoreline At Which Victim Was Discovered
Members of the jury overseeing a high-profile Australian murder trial have traveled to the isolated beach where the young woman was located.
The 24-year-old victim was repeatedly stabbed with a sharp object and buried in a sandy resting place with minimal chance of survival, the court has been told.
Her body were discovered by a family member the following day on Wangetti Beach – a section of coastline between the tourist centres of Cairns and Port Douglas.
Rajwinder Singh, 41, denies killing Ms Cordingley on a weekend in October 2018 in northern Australia.
Court Visit to Crime Scene
The jury of 10 men and two women plus three back-up jurors visited the beach along with the presiding officer and legal counsel on the start of the week in Queensland.
In a nod to the tropical conditions and temperatures above 30C, Justice Lincoln Crowley wore a casual top, athletic wear and sneakers rather than traditional court attire.
Both the prosecuting and defence barristers selected casual shirts, bottoms and baseball caps.
Location Details
The court members were led around 1.2km along the beach to observe where Ms Cordingley's remains were uncovered.
Upon arrival, as they arrived by bus, several red and white cones indicated where the victim's car had been left.
The visit was intended to help the jurors become acquainted with important sites in the case and no testimony was presented.
Context of the Trial
Previously, the Cairns Supreme Court heard that the day after Ms Cordingley's remains were discovered, the accused flew from Australia to India – leaving behind his spouse, family and relatives.
He was out of contact until he was arrested four years later, the state said.
Prosecution Case
It is alleged that the defendant, who was working as a nurse in the community of Innisfail, near Cairns, had a altercation with Ms Cordingley.
The victim was discovered wearing a bikini, with all her other clothes and most of her possessions missing.
Those objects were taken by the assailant to avoid detection, prosecutors contend.
Her pet, Indie, which Ms Cordingley had brought along for a stroll, was located secured to a post hidden in shrubland about 100 feet from the burial site.
No murder weapon was found, and no one have been found.
But the state says the crown's case – though circumstantial – was comprised findings that pointed to Mr Singh "and eliminated others."
This will include evidence that genetic material obtained from a object at the location was extremely more probable to have originated from Mr Singh than a unrelated individual of the public.
The court has already heard testimony suggesting that Ms Cordingley's phone left the scene after the killing – and that its movements matched those of a blue Alfa Romeo owned by the defendant.
Mr Singh's sudden departure from Australia also suggested his guilt, the state has claimed.
Defence Stance
"As the police were discovering Toyah's remains, he was arranging... a rushed single journey back to India," Mr Crane said last week as he began arguments.
The defense is yet to present any evidence, but in his initial statement, the defense attorney Greg McGuire portrayed his client 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 witnessed assailants assault 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 "identified and unidentified" who should come under suspicion.
Additional Testimony
Ms Cordingley's partner, the witness, whom police quickly ruled out as a possible suspect, was one who testified last week.
The court 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 girlfriend's vanishing, even before her body were found.
Images depicting the witness on a walk with a friend on the day Ms Cordingley went missing have been shown to the jury, with an expert saying he was confident the photos were genuine and had not been doctored in any way.
The trial will resume to the standard environment of the courtroom on the next day.