Panel of Jurors in Prominent Australian Homicide Trial Visits Shoreline Where Victim Was Discovered

Jurors overseeing a high-profile Queensland homicide case have traveled to the isolated beach where the young woman was discovered.

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

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

The accused, 41, denies murdering Ms Cordingley on a weekend in October 2018 in Far North Queensland.

Jury Inspection to Crime Scene

The panel of 10 men and two women plus several alternates attended the beach along with the judge and barristers on the start of the week local time.

In a acknowledgment of the tropical conditions and sweltering heat, Justice Lincoln Crowley wore a casual top, sport shorts and trainers rather than a wig and robes.

Both the lead prosecution and defence barristers chose casual shirts, shorts and baseball caps.

Location Details

The jurors were led around 1.2km north up the sand to observe where Ms Cordingley's body were discovered.

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

The trip was designed to help the jurors become acquainted with important sites in the case and no testimony was given.

Context of the Trial

Last week, the court was informed that the day after Ms Cordingley's body were discovered, the accused flew from Australia to India – abandoning his wife, three children and relatives.

He was not heard from until he was arrested four years later, the state said.

Prosecution Argument

It is alleged that Mr Singh, who was employed in healthcare in the town of Innisfail, near Cairns, had a altercation with Ms Cordingley.

The victim was found wearing a bikini, with her attire and belongings missing.

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

Her pet, Indie, which Ms Cordingley had brought along for a stroll, was located tied up to a post concealed in bushland about 30 metres from the burial site.

The weapon was ever recovered, and no one have been found.

But the prosecution says the evidence – though indirect – was comprised findings that indicated Mr Singh "excluding other suspects."

This will include evidence that DNA recovered from a stick at the scene was 3.8 billion times more likely to have originated 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 killing – and that its travel matched those of a blue Alfa Romeo owned by the defendant.

Mr Singh's quick exit from Australia also pointed to his involvement, the prosecution has claimed.

Defense Stance

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

The defense is has not provided testimony, but in his initial statement, the defense attorney Greg McGuire portrayed his client as a "calm" and "caring" man, who was in the "incorrect location at the unfortunate moment."

He also hinted at evidence to come subsequently that, after his arrest, Mr Singh told an plainclothes agent he had witnessed assailants attack Ms Cordingley and then had run away in fear – something he said was his "gravest error."

The defense attorney has also said he will testify about individuals "identified and unidentified" who should come under suspicion.

Further Evidence

Ms Cordingley's partner, the witness, whom authorities excluded as a possible suspect, was one who testified last week.

The trial was informed he was an initial police suspect – and that he had been interrogated from Ms Cordingley's parent about whether he was implicated in his partner's vanishing, prior to her remains were found.

Photographs showing the witness on a walk with a companion on the day Ms Cordingley went missing have been shown to the court, with an specialist saying he was confident the photos were authentic and had not been doctored in any way.

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