Jury in Prominent Down Under Homicide Case Tours Beach Where Deceased Was Found
Jurors involved in a widely publicized Australian murder trial have been taken to the remote beach where the young woman was located.
Toyah Cordingley was multiple times attacked with a sharp object and buried in a shallow resting place with little or no chance of survival, the court has heard.
Her body were discovered by her father the following day on Wangetti Beach – a section of coastline nestled between the popular destinations of Cairns and Port Douglas.
The accused, 41, has pleaded not guilty to murdering Ms Cordingley on a weekend in October 2018 in northern Australia.
Jury Inspection to Crime Scene
The jury of 12 individuals plus several alternates attended the beach 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 wore a T-shirt, athletic wear and sneakers rather than a wig and robes.
Both the lead prosecution and defence barristers chose polo shirts, shorts and baseball caps.
Scene Particulars
The court members were guided around three-quarters of a mile north up the sand to see where Ms Cordingley's remains were discovered.
Earlier, as they traveled to the site, four markers showed where the victim's car had been left.
The trip was designed to help the panel become acquainted with important sites in the trial and no official evidence was presented.
Background of the Trial
Last week, the court heard that the day after Ms Cordingley's remains were discovered, the accused flew from Australia to India – abandoning his spouse, family and parents.
He was not heard from until he was arrested years after, the state said.
Prosecution 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 pharmacy worker was discovered wearing a swimwear, with all her other clothes and belongings absent.
Those objects were taken by the assailant to avoid detection, prosecutors allege.
Her dog, Indie, which Ms Cordingley had taken to the beach for a stroll, was located tied up to a post concealed in bushland about 30 metres from the grave.
No murder weapon was ever recovered, and no one have been identified.
But the state says the evidence – though indirect – was comprised findings that pointed to Mr Singh "and eliminated others."
This will involve testimony that DNA obtained from a stick at the scene was 3.8 billion times more probable to have come from Mr Singh than a random member of the population.
The court has previously been told testimony indicating that Ms Cordingley's phone departed the scene after the incident – and that its travel corresponded with those of a vehicle belonging to the defendant.
Mr Singh's quick exit from Australia also pointed to his involvement, the prosecution has argued.
Defence Stance
"As the police were finding Toyah's remains, 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 provided testimony, but in his initial statement, the defense attorney the lawyer portrayed his client as a "placid" and "compassionate" man, who was in the "wrong place at the unfortunate moment."
He also hinted at testimony to come subsequently that, after his apprehension, Mr Singh informed an plainclothes agent he had witnessed assailants assault Ms Cordingley and then had fled in terror – something he said was his "biggest mistake."
The defense attorney has also said he will give evidence about individuals "identified and unidentified" who should come under investigation.
Additional Testimony
Ms Cordingley's boyfriend at the time, the witness, whom police quickly ruled out as a person of interest, was among those who gave evidence previously.
The trial was informed he was an immediate 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 discovered.
Photographs showing the witness on a walk with a companion on the day Ms Cordingley disappeared have been shown to the court, with an expert saying he was confident the photos were genuine and had not been doctored in any manner.
The case will return to the more conventional setting of the courtroom on the next day.
