🔗 Share this article

Jurors involved in a high-profile Australian homicide case have been taken to the isolated shore where the victim was located.

Toyah Cordingley was multiple times stabbed with a sharp object and buried in a sandy grave with minimal chance of survival, the court has heard.

Her body were discovered by her father the next day on Wangetti Beach – a stretch of shoreline between the tourist centres of Cairns and Port Douglas.

Rajwinder Singh, 41, denies murdering Ms Cordingley on a Sunday afternoon in October 2018 in northern Australia.

Court Visit to Crime Scene

The panel of 10 men and two women plus several back-up jurors attended the beach along with the presiding officer and barristers on the start of the week local time.

In a nod to the tropical conditions and temperatures above 30C, Justice Lincoln Crowley opted for a casual top, sport shorts and sneakers rather than a wig and robes.

Both the lead prosecution and defense attorneys selected polo shirts, shorts and headwear.

Scene Particulars

The jurors were guided around three-quarters of a mile along the beach to observe where Ms Cordingley's body were discovered.

Earlier, as they traveled to the site, four red and white cones showed where the vehicle had been parked.

The trip was designed to help the jurors become acquainted with key locations in the trial and no official evidence was presented.

Context of the Trial

Last week, the court heard that the day after Ms Cordingley's remains were found, Mr Singh flew from Australia to India – abandoning his wife, three children and relatives.

He was out of contact until he was apprehended years after, the state said.

State Case

It is claimed that Mr Singh, who was employed in healthcare in the town of Innisfail, south of Cairns, had a confrontation with Ms Cordingley.

The pharmacy worker was found wearing a bikini, with all her other clothes and most of her possessions absent.

Those objects were removed by the killer to conceal evidence, prosecutors allege.

Her dog, Indie, which Ms Cordingley had taken to the beach for a walk, was located tied up to a tree hidden in shrubland about 100 feet from the burial site.

No murder weapon was ever recovered, and no eyewitnesses have been found.

But the prosecution says the evidence – though indirect – was comprised findings that indicated Mr Singh "and eliminated others."

This will include testimony that genetic material 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 jury has already heard evidence suggesting that Ms Cordingley's phone departed the beach after the killing – and that its travel matched those of a blue Alfa Romeo belonging to the accused.

Mr Singh's quick exit from Australia also suggested his involvement, the prosecution has argued.

Defence Position

"While authorities were discovering Toyah's body, he was organizing... a rushed single journey back to India," Mr Crane said last week as he opened his case.

The defense is yet to provided testimony, but in his opening address, the defense attorney the lawyer portrayed his client as a "calm" and "compassionate" man, who was in the "incorrect location at the wrong time."

He also hinted at evidence to come subsequently that, after his arrest, Mr Singh informed an undercover officer he had seen assailants assault Ms Cordingley and then had fled in fear – something he said was his "gravest error."

The defense attorney has also said he will give evidence about individuals "both known and unknown" who should come under suspicion.

Additional Testimony

Ms Cordingley's boyfriend at the time, the witness, whom authorities quickly ruled out as a person of interest, was among those who gave evidence last week.

The court heard he was an immediate person of interest – and that he had been interrogated from Ms Cordingley's parent about whether he was involved in his partner's disappearance, prior to her remains were found.

Photographs depicting Mr Heidenreich on a hike with a companion on the date Ms Cordingley disappeared have been shown to the court, with an specialist saying he was confident the photos were genuine and had not been altered in any manner.

The case will return to the standard environment of the courthouse on the next day.