🔗 Share this article

Jurors overseeing a widely publicized Australian murder trial have been taken to the remote beach where the victim was located.

Toyah Cordingley was repeatedly attacked with a sharp object and buried in a shallow grave with little or no hope of surviving, the jury has heard.

The remains were discovered by her father the next day on Wangetti Beach – a section of shoreline nestled between the tourist centres of Cairns and Port Douglas.

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

Jury Inspection to Crime Scene

The jury of 12 individuals plus three alternates 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, the judge wore a casual top, athletic wear and sneakers rather than traditional court attire.

Both the prosecuting and defence barristers selected polo shirts, bottoms and headwear.

Scene Details

The court members were led around three-quarters of a mile along the beach to see where Ms Cordingley's remains were uncovered.

Earlier, as they arrived by bus, four red and white cones showed where the victim's car had been left.

The trip was designed to help the panel become familiar with key locations in the trial and no testimony was given.

Context of the Trial

Previously, the court was informed that the day after Ms Cordingley's remains were found, the accused flew from Australia to India – abandoning his wife, family and parents.

He was not heard from until he was apprehended years after, the prosecution said.

State Argument

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

The victim was found wearing a bikini, with all her other clothes and most of her possessions missing.

Those items were taken by the killer to avoid detection, the prosecution allege.

Her pet, Indie, which Ms Cordingley had brought along for a stroll, was located tied up to a tree hidden in bushland about 100 feet from the grave.

No murder weapon was found, and no one have been found.

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

This will involve evidence that DNA obtained from a object at the location was 3.8 billion times more probable to have come from Mr Singh than a random member of the public.

The court has already heard evidence indicating that Ms Cordingley's phone left the scene after the incident – and that its travel corresponded with those of a vehicle belonging to the accused.

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

Defence Stance

"As the police were finding Toyah's remains, he was organizing... a hurriedly arranged one way trip back to India," Mr Crane said previously as he opened his case.

The defence is has not 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 "incorrect location at the unfortunate moment."

He also hinted at evidence to come later in the trial that, after his apprehension, Mr Singh told an plainclothes agent he had seen two masked men assault Ms Cordingley and then had fled in fear – something he said was his "biggest mistake."

Mr McGuire has also said he will testify about other people "identified and unidentified" who should come under investigation.

Additional Evidence

Ms Cordingley's boyfriend at the time, Marco Heidenreich, whom police excluded as a possible suspect, was one who testified last week.

The court heard he was an initial person of interest – and that he had been interrogated from Ms Cordingley's parent about whether he was implicated in his girlfriend's disappearance, even before her remains were discovered.

Photographs depicting the witness on a walk with a friend on the date Ms Cordingley went missing have been shown to the court, with an specialist saying he was certain the photos were authentic and had not been altered in any manner.

The case will resume to the more conventional setting of the courtroom on the next day.