Panel of Jurors in Prominent Australian Homicide Case Visits Beach Where Victim Was Found
Jurors overseeing a widely publicized Australian murder trial have traveled to the isolated shore where the young woman was located.
The 24-year-old victim was multiple times attacked with a sharp object and buried in a sandy resting place with little or no chance of survival, the jury has been told.
Her body were discovered by a family member the following day on Wangetti Beach β a section of coastline nestled between the popular destinations of Cairns and Port Douglas.
The accused, 41, denies murdering Ms Cordingley on a Sunday afternoon in October 2018 in northern Australia.
Jury Visit to Beach
The jury of 12 individuals plus three back-up jurors visited the beach along with the judge and legal counsel on the start of the week in Queensland.
In a acknowledgment of the tropical conditions and temperatures above 30C, the judge wore a casual top, athletic wear and trainers rather than traditional court attire.
Both the prosecuting and defense attorneys chose casual shirts, shorts and baseball caps.
Location Particulars
The court members were guided around three-quarters of a mile along the beach to see where Ms Cordingley's remains 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 designed to help the jurors become familiar with key locations in the case and no testimony was presented.
Background of the Trial
Previously, the Cairns Supreme Court heard that the day after Ms Cordingley's remains were found, Mr Singh flew from Australia to India β abandoning his wife, three children and parents.
He was not heard from until he was apprehended four years later, the prosecution said.
State Case
It is alleged 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 found wearing a bikini, with all her other clothes and most of her possessions absent.
Those items were taken by the killer to conceal evidence, prosecutors contend.
Her dog, Indie, which Ms Cordingley had brought along for a stroll, was found secured to a tree hidden in bushland about 100 feet from the grave.
No murder weapon was found, and no one have been identified.
But the state says the evidence β though circumstantial β was comprised findings that indicated Mr Singh "excluding other suspects."
This will include testimony that genetic material obtained from a object at the location was extremely more probable to have come from Mr Singh than a unrelated individual of the population.
The jury has already heard evidence indicating that Ms Cordingley's mobile device departed the beach after the killing β and that its movements corresponded with those of a vehicle belonging to the defendant.
Mr Singh's sudden departure from Australia also suggested his guilt, the prosecution has argued.
Defence Stance
"As the police were discovering Toyah's body, he was organizing... a rushed one way trip back to India," Mr Crane said last week as he began arguments.
The defense is yet to provided testimony, but in his initial statement, the defense attorney Greg McGuire portrayed his defendant as a "placid" and "compassionate" man, who was in the "incorrect location at the wrong time."
He also hinted at evidence to come later in the trial that, after his arrest, Mr Singh told an undercover officer he had witnessed assailants assault Ms Cordingley and then had run away in fear β something he said was his "biggest mistake."
Mr McGuire has also said he will testify about individuals "both known and unknown" who should come under investigation.
Further Testimony
Ms Cordingley's partner, Marco Heidenreich, whom authorities excluded as a possible suspect, was among those who gave evidence previously.
The court heard he was an initial police suspect β and that he had faced questions from Ms Cordingley's father about whether he was involved in his partner's vanishing, even before her remains were discovered.
Photographs showing Mr Heidenreich on a hike with a friend 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 altered in any way.
The trial will return to the standard environment of the courthouse on Tuesday.