Panel of Jurors in High-Profile Australian Murder Case Visits Shoreline At Which Victim Was Discovered

Wangetti Beach scene
The body of Toyah Cordingley were found on a remote coastline in Far North Queensland back in 2018.

Members of the jury overseeing a widely publicized Queensland murder trial have been taken to the isolated beach where the victim was discovered.

Toyah Cordingley was repeatedly attacked with a bladed weapon and buried in a sandy grave with little or no chance of survival, the court has been told.

The remains were discovered by a family member the following day on Wangetti Beach – a stretch of coastline nestled between the tourist centres of Cairns and Port Douglas.

Rajwinder Singh, 41, has pleaded not guilty to murdering Ms Cordingley on a weekend in October 2018 in northern Australia.

Jury Inspection 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 nod to the hot climate and temperatures above 30C, Justice Lincoln Crowley opted for a casual top, sport shorts and sneakers rather than traditional court attire.

Both the prosecuting and defence barristers chose casual shirts, shorts and baseball caps.

Scene Particulars

The court members were led around three-quarters of a mile north up the sand to observe where Ms Cordingley's body were uncovered.

Upon arrival, as they traveled to the site, several markers indicated where the victim's car had been left.

The visit was intended to help the panel become familiar with important sites in the case and no testimony was presented.

Background of the Case

Previously, the Cairns Supreme Court was informed that the day after Ms Cordingley's remains were discovered, Mr Singh flew from Australia to India – abandoning his wife, three children and parents.

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

Court officials at the beach
The judge with legal representatives 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, south of Cairns, had a altercation with Ms Cordingley.

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

Those items were removed by the assailant to conceal evidence, prosecutors allege.

Her pet, Indie, which Ms Cordingley had taken to the beach for a walk, was found tied up to a post concealed in shrubland about 100 feet from the burial site.

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

But the prosecution says the crown's case – though indirect – was comprised findings that indicated 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 likely to have come from Mr Singh than a unrelated individual of the population.

The court has previously been told evidence suggesting that Ms Cordingley's phone left the beach after the killing – and that its movements corresponded with those of a vehicle belonging to the accused.

Mr Singh's quick exit from Australia also suggested his involvement, the state has claimed.

Defence Position

"While authorities were discovering Toyah's remains, he was organizing... a hurriedly arranged single journey back to India," the prosecutor said previously as he opened his case.

The defense is has not provided testimony, but in his initial statement, the defense attorney Greg McGuire described his defendant as a "calm" and "compassionate" man, who was in the "incorrect location at the wrong time."

He also hinted at testimony to come subsequently that, after his apprehension, Mr Singh told an undercover officer he had seen assailants 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 boyfriend at the time, Marco Heidenreich, whom police quickly ruled out as a person of interest, was among those who gave evidence previously.

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

Photographs depicting Mr Heidenreich on a hike with a companion on the day Ms Cordingley disappeared have been shown to the jury, with an specialist saying he was confident the photos were authentic and had not been altered in any manner.

The case will return to the standard environment of the courthouse on the next day.

James White
James White

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