Jury in Prominent Down Under Murder Trial Tours Shoreline At Which Deceased Was Discovered
Members of the jury involved in a widely publicized Australian murder trial have traveled to the isolated beach where the victim was discovered.
Toyah Cordingley was repeatedly attacked with a bladed weapon and buried in a sandy resting place with minimal hope of surviving, the jury has heard.
Her body were discovered by a family member the following day on Wangetti Beach – a stretch of coastline between the popular destinations of Cairns and Port Douglas.
The accused, 41, denies murdering Ms Cordingley on a weekend in October 2018 in northern Australia.
Court Visit to Beach
The panel of 10 men and two women plus several back-up jurors attended the location along with the presiding officer and barristers on the start of the week in Queensland.
In a nod to the hot climate and sweltering heat, Justice Lincoln Crowley opted for a T-shirt, athletic wear and sneakers rather than traditional court attire.
Both the lead prosecution and defense attorneys chose casual shirts, shorts and headwear.
Scene Details
The court members were guided around three-quarters of a mile north up the sand to observe where Ms Cordingley's body were discovered.
Upon arrival, as they traveled to the site, several red and white cones showed where the vehicle had been left.
The visit was designed to help the jurors become familiar with important sites in the case and no testimony was presented.
Context of the Case
Last week, 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 spouse, family and relatives.
He was not heard from until he was arrested years after, the state said.
State Argument
It is claimed that the defendant, who was employed in healthcare 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 belongings absent.
Those items were removed by the killer to conceal evidence, prosecutors allege.
Her dog, Indie, which Ms Cordingley had brought along for a walk, was found tied up to a tree concealed in shrubland about 100 feet from the grave.
No murder weapon was found, and no one have been identified.
But the prosecution says the evidence – though indirect – was comprised proof that indicated Mr Singh "and eliminated others."
This will include testimony that genetic material recovered 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 public.
The court has previously been told evidence indicating that Ms Cordingley's phone departed the beach after the incident – and that its movements corresponded with those of a vehicle owned by the accused.
Mr Singh's sudden departure from Australia also pointed to his guilt, the prosecution has argued.
Defense Position
"As the police were discovering Toyah's remains, he was organizing... a hurriedly arranged one way trip back to India," Mr Crane said previously as he began arguments.
The defense is has not present any evidence, but in his opening address, Mr Singh's barrister Greg McGuire described his client as a "calm" and "compassionate" 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 undercover officer he had witnessed two masked men assault Ms Cordingley and then had fled in terror – something he said was his "biggest mistake."
Mr McGuire has also said he will give evidence about individuals "both known and unknown" who should come under investigation.
Further Evidence
Ms Cordingley's boyfriend at the time, the witness, whom authorities excluded as a possible suspect, was one who testified previously.
The trial heard 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 partner's vanishing, prior to her body were discovered.
Images depicting the witness on a hike with a friend on the date Ms Cordingley went missing have been shown to the court, with an specialist saying he was confident the photos were genuine and had not been altered in any way.
The trial will return to the standard environment of the courtroom on Tuesday.