Jury in High-Profile Australian Murder Case Tours Shoreline At Which Deceased Was Discovered
Members of the jury overseeing a high-profile Australian homicide case have traveled to the isolated shore where the young woman was located.
Toyah Cordingley was multiple times attacked with a bladed weapon and buried in a sandy resting place with minimal chance of survival, the jury has been told.
Her body were discovered by her father the next 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 Visit to Beach
The jury of 12 individuals plus three back-up jurors attended the beach along with the presiding officer and barristers on Monday morning local time.
In a nod to the tropical conditions and temperatures above 30C, Justice Lincoln Crowley wore a casual top, sport shorts and trainers rather than traditional court attire.
Both the prosecuting and defense attorneys chose polo shirts, bottoms and headwear.
Scene Particulars
The court members were guided around 1.2km north up the sand to observe where Ms Cordingley's body were uncovered.
Earlier, as they traveled to the site, several markers indicated where the victim's car 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 Trial
Previously, the court heard that the day after Ms Cordingley's remains were discovered, the accused flew from Australia to India – abandoning his spouse, three children and relatives.
He was not heard from until he was arrested four years later, the state said.
State Case
It is claimed that Mr Singh, who was working as a nurse in the community of Innisfail, south of Cairns, had a altercation with Ms Cordingley.
The victim was found wearing a bikini, with her attire and belongings absent.
Those items were removed by the assailant to avoid detection, prosecutors contend.
Her dog, Indie, which Ms Cordingley had brought along for a walk, was found tied up to a tree concealed in shrubland about 30 metres from the burial site.
No murder weapon was ever recovered, and no eyewitnesses have been found.
But the prosecution says the crown's case – though circumstantial – was made up of findings that indicated Mr Singh "and eliminated others."
This will involve testimony that DNA recovered from a object at the scene was 3.8 billion times more likely to have originated from Mr Singh than a unrelated individual of the public.
The jury has already heard testimony suggesting that Ms Cordingley's phone left the beach after the killing – and that its travel matched those of a blue Alfa Romeo owned by the accused.
Mr Singh's sudden departure from Australia also suggested his involvement, the prosecution has claimed.
Defence Position
"As the police were finding Toyah's body, he was organizing... a rushed single journey back to India," the prosecutor said previously as he began arguments.
The defense is has not present any evidence, but in his opening address, Mr Singh's barrister the lawyer portrayed his client as a "calm" and "compassionate" man, who was in the "incorrect location at the unfortunate moment."
He also hinted at evidence to come later in the trial that, after his apprehension, Mr Singh informed an undercover officer he had seen two masked men attack Ms Cordingley and then had run away in terror – something he said was his "biggest mistake."
The defense attorney has also said he will testify about individuals "identified and unidentified" who should come under investigation.
Additional Evidence
Ms Cordingley's boyfriend at the time, the witness, whom authorities quickly ruled out as a possible suspect, was one who gave evidence last week.
The court was informed he was an immediate police suspect – and that he had been interrogated from Ms Cordingley's parent about whether he was implicated in his girlfriend's disappearance, prior to her body were found.
Images depicting the witness on a hike with a friend on the date Ms Cordingley disappeared have been presented to the court, with an specialist saying he was certain the photos were genuine and had not been doctored in any manner.
The case will resume to the standard environment of the courthouse on the next day.