Jury in Prominent Down Under Murder Case Tours Shoreline Where Deceased Was Found
Jurors overseeing a high-profile Australian homicide case have traveled to the isolated shore where the victim was discovered.
The 24-year-old victim was multiple times stabbed with a bladed weapon and placed in a sandy grave with minimal chance of survival, the jury has heard.
Her body were discovered by a family member the following day on Wangetti Beach โ a stretch of shoreline between the tourist centres of Cairns and Port Douglas.
The accused, 41, denies killing Ms Cordingley on a Sunday afternoon in October 2018 in northern Australia.
Court Visit to Beach
The jury of 10 men and two women plus three back-up jurors visited the beach along with the judge and barristers on the start of the week local time.
In a nod to the hot climate and sweltering heat, the judge wore a T-shirt, athletic wear and trainers rather than a wig and robes.
Both the lead prosecution and defence barristers selected casual shirts, bottoms and baseball caps.
Location Particulars
The jurors were led around three-quarters of a mile along the beach to see where Ms Cordingley's body were uncovered.
Earlier, as they arrived by bus, several markers showed where the victim's car had been parked.
The visit was designed to help the panel become familiar with important sites in the trial and no testimony was given.
Context of the Case
Previously, the Cairns Supreme Court was informed that the day after Ms Cordingley's body were found, the accused departed from Australia to India โ abandoning his wife, family and parents.
He was not heard from until he was arrested years after, the prosecution said.
State Case
It is alleged that Mr Singh, who was employed in healthcare in the community of Innisfail, south of Cairns, had a altercation with Ms Cordingley.
The pharmacy worker was discovered wearing a bikini, with her attire and most of her possessions absent.
Those items were taken by the killer to conceal evidence, the prosecution allege.
Her pet, Indie, which Ms Cordingley had brought along for a stroll, was located secured to a post hidden in bushland about 100 feet from the burial site.
The weapon was ever recovered, and no one have been found.
But the prosecution says the evidence โ though indirect โ was comprised proof that indicated Mr Singh "and eliminated others."
This will include testimony that DNA obtained from a object at the scene was 3.8 billion times more likely to have come from Mr Singh than a random member of the public.
The court has already heard testimony suggesting that Ms Cordingley's phone left the scene after the killing โ and that its travel corresponded with those of a blue Alfa Romeo belonging to the accused.
Mr Singh's sudden departure from Australia also pointed to his guilt, the state has argued.
Defence Position
"As the police were discovering Toyah's body, he was organizing... a rushed one way trip back to India," Mr Crane said previously as he began arguments.
The defence is has not provided testimony, but in his opening address, Mr Singh's barrister Greg McGuire described his defendant as a "placid" and "caring" man, who was in the "wrong place at the wrong time."
He also hinted at evidence to come subsequently that, after his apprehension, Mr Singh told an plainclothes agent he had seen assailants assault Ms Cordingley and then had fled in fear โ something he said was his "gravest error."
Mr McGuire has also said he will testify about individuals "identified and unidentified" who should come under suspicion.
Additional Testimony
Ms Cordingley's partner, Marco Heidenreich, whom police quickly ruled out as a person of interest, was among those who testified last week.
The trial heard he was an immediate person of interest โ and that he had faced questions from Ms Cordingley's father about whether he was involved in his girlfriend's vanishing, even before her body were discovered.
Photographs showing the witness on a walk with a companion on the date Ms Cordingley disappeared have been shown to the jury, with an expert saying he was confident the pictures were authentic and had not been altered in any manner.
The case will return to the standard environment of the courthouse on Tuesday.