Panel of Jurors in High-Profile Australian Homicide Case Tours Beach At Which Deceased Was Found
Members of the jury overseeing a widely publicized Australian murder trial have traveled to the isolated beach where the young woman was discovered.
Toyah Cordingley was multiple times attacked with a sharp object and buried in a sandy resting place with minimal hope of surviving, the jury has heard.
Her body were found by her father the following day on Wangetti Beach – a stretch of shoreline nestled between the tourist centres of Cairns and Port Douglas.
The accused, 41, denies murdering Ms Cordingley on a Sunday afternoon in October 2018 in northern Australia.
Jury Inspection to Crime Scene
The panel of 10 men and two women plus several back-up jurors attended the beach along with the presiding officer and legal counsel on the start of the week local time.
In a acknowledgment of the hot climate and sweltering heat, Justice Lincoln Crowley opted for a casual top, sport shorts and sneakers rather than a wig and robes.
Both the lead prosecution and defense attorneys selected casual shirts, bottoms and baseball caps.
Scene Particulars
The jurors were guided around 1.2km along the beach to observe where Ms Cordingley's remains were uncovered.
Upon arrival, as they traveled to the site, four markers indicated where the victim's car had been parked.
The visit was intended to help the panel become familiar with important sites in the trial and no official evidence was presented.
Background of the Case
Previously, the Cairns Supreme Court was informed that the day after Ms Cordingley's body were found, the accused flew from Australia to India – abandoning his wife, three children and relatives.
He was out of contact until he was arrested four years later, the prosecution said.
Prosecution Argument
It is alleged that the defendant, who was employed in healthcare in the community of Innisfail, near Cairns, had a altercation with Ms Cordingley.
The pharmacy worker was discovered wearing a swimwear, with all her other clothes and most of her possessions absent.
Those items were removed by the killer to conceal evidence, prosecutors contend.
Her pet, Indie, which Ms Cordingley had taken to the beach for a stroll, was located secured to a post concealed in shrubland about 30 metres from the grave.
The weapon was ever recovered, and no eyewitnesses have been found.
But the state says the crown's case – though circumstantial – was made up of findings that indicated Mr Singh "and eliminated others."
This will involve evidence that DNA obtained from a stick at the scene was 3.8 billion times more likely to have come from Mr Singh than a random member of the public.
The jury has already heard testimony suggesting that Ms Cordingley's mobile device departed the scene after the incident – and that its movements corresponded with those of a vehicle belonging to the accused.
Mr Singh's sudden departure from Australia also pointed to his guilt, the state has claimed.
Defence Position
"While authorities were finding Toyah's remains, he was organizing... a rushed single journey back to India," Mr Crane said previously as he opened his case.
The defense is has not provided testimony, but in his initial statement, the defense attorney Greg McGuire portrayed his defendant as a "calm" and "caring" man, who was in the "incorrect location at the unfortunate moment."
He also foreshadowed testimony to come subsequently that, after his arrest, Mr Singh told an undercover officer he had seen two masked men assault Ms Cordingley and then had fled in fear – something he said was his "gravest error."
The defense attorney has also said he will testify about individuals "identified and unidentified" who should come under suspicion.
Further Testimony
Ms Cordingley's partner, the witness, whom police excluded as a person of interest, was one who testified last week.
The trial heard he was an immediate police suspect – and that he had faced questions from Ms Cordingley's parent about whether he was involved in his girlfriend's vanishing, prior to her body were found.
Photographs showing the witness on a walk with a companion on the day Ms Cordingley went missing have been shown to the court, with an expert saying he was certain the pictures were genuine and had not been doctored in any way.
The case will return to the more conventional setting of the courthouse on Tuesday.