Jury in Prominent Australian Homicide Case Tours Beach Where Victim Was Discovered
Jurors involved in a widely publicized Australian homicide case have been taken to the isolated shore where the victim was located.
Toyah Cordingley was multiple times attacked with a sharp object and buried in a shallow grave with little or no hope of surviving, the court has heard.
Her body were found by a family member the following day on Wangetti Beach – a section of coastline between the tourist centres of Cairns and Port Douglas.
The accused, 41, has pleaded not guilty to murdering Ms Cordingley on a weekend in October 2018 in Far North Queensland.
Jury Inspection to Crime Scene
The jury of 12 individuals plus three back-up jurors attended the beach along with the presiding officer and barristers on Monday morning in Queensland.
In a acknowledgment of the tropical conditions and temperatures above 30C, Justice Lincoln Crowley wore a T-shirt, athletic wear and sneakers rather than a wig and robes.
Both the lead prosecution and defense attorneys selected casual shirts, shorts and headwear.
Location Details
The jurors were led around 1.2km along the beach to observe where Ms Cordingley's body were discovered.
Earlier, as they traveled to the site, four markers showed where the vehicle had been left.
The trip was intended to help the panel become acquainted with important sites in the case and no testimony was presented.
Background of the Case
Previously, the court heard that the following day Ms Cordingley's body were discovered, the accused flew from Australia to India – abandoning his spouse, three children and relatives.
He was out of contact until he was arrested four years later, the prosecution said.
Prosecution Case
It is alleged that the defendant, who was employed in healthcare in the community of Innisfail, near Cairns, had a confrontation with Ms Cordingley.
The victim was discovered wearing a bikini, with her attire 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 brought along for a walk, was located tied up to a post concealed in bushland about 100 feet from the grave.
The weapon was ever recovered, and no one have been identified.
But the prosecution says the evidence – though circumstantial – was comprised proof that pointed to Mr Singh "excluding other suspects."
This will involve testimony that DNA obtained from a object at the location was extremely more likely to have come from Mr Singh than a random member of the population.
The court has already heard evidence indicating that Ms Cordingley's mobile device left the scene after the killing – and that its movements matched those of a blue Alfa Romeo belonging to the defendant.
Mr Singh's sudden departure from Australia also suggested his involvement, the prosecution has argued.
Defense Stance
"As the police were finding Toyah's body, he was arranging... a hurriedly arranged single journey back to India," Mr Crane said previously as he opened his case.
The defence is yet to present any evidence, but in his opening address, Mr Singh's barrister the lawyer described his client as a "calm" and "compassionate" man, who was in the "incorrect location at the unfortunate moment."
He also hinted at testimony to come later in the trial that, after his arrest, Mr Singh told an plainclothes agent he had seen two masked men assault Ms Cordingley and then had fled in terror – something he said was his "gravest error."
Mr McGuire has also said he will give evidence about other people "both known and unknown" who should come under investigation.
Additional Testimony
Ms Cordingley's partner, the witness, whom police quickly ruled out as a person of interest, was one who gave evidence last week.
The court heard he was an immediate police suspect – and that he had faced questions from Ms Cordingley's parent about whether he was implicated in his partner's disappearance, even before her body were found.
Photographs depicting Mr Heidenreich on a hike with a friend on the day Ms Cordingley disappeared have been presented to the jury, with an expert saying he was certain the photos were authentic and had not been doctored in any way.
The trial will resume to the more conventional setting of the courtroom on the next day.