Jury in High-Profile Down Under Murder Trial Tours Shoreline At Which Deceased Was Found

Jurors overseeing a high-profile Queensland murder trial have traveled to the isolated shore where the victim was discovered.

Toyah Cordingley was multiple times attacked with a bladed weapon and buried in a sandy grave with little or no chance of survival, the court has been told.

Her body were discovered by a family member the following day on Wangetti Beach – a stretch of shoreline nestled between the tourist centres of Cairns and Port Douglas.

The accused, 41, has pleaded not guilty to murdering Ms Cordingley on a weekend in October 2018 in Far North Queensland.

Jury Visit to Crime Scene

The jury of 12 individuals plus several alternates attended the location along with the presiding officer and legal counsel on the start of the week in Queensland.

In a acknowledgment of the hot climate and sweltering heat, the judge wore a casual top, athletic wear and sneakers rather than traditional court attire.

Both the lead prosecution and defense attorneys chose polo shirts, bottoms and baseball caps.

Location Details

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

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

The trip was intended to help the panel become acquainted with important sites in the case and no testimony was presented.

Context of the Case

Last week, the court heard that the following day Ms Cordingley's body were found, the accused departed from Australia to India – abandoning his wife, three children and relatives.

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

Prosecution Case

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

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

Those objects were taken by the killer to avoid detection, prosecutors contend.

Her dog, Indie, which Ms Cordingley had brought along for a walk, was found tied up to a post concealed in bushland about 30 metres from the grave.

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

But the prosecution says the evidence – though indirect – was made up of proof that indicated Mr Singh "excluding other suspects."

This will involve evidence that genetic material recovered from a object at the location was 3.8 billion times more probable to have come from Mr Singh than a unrelated individual of the public.

The court has already heard testimony indicating that Ms Cordingley's phone left the scene after the incident – and that its travel matched those of a blue Alfa Romeo owned by the defendant.

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

Defence Position

"As the police were finding Toyah's remains, he was organizing... a rushed one way trip back to India," Mr Crane said previously as he began arguments.

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

He also hinted at testimony to come subsequently that, after his apprehension, Mr Singh told an plainclothes agent he had seen assailants attack Ms Cordingley and then had run away in terror – something he said was his "biggest mistake."

Mr McGuire has also said he will give evidence about other people "identified and unidentified" who should come under suspicion.

Further Testimony

Ms Cordingley's boyfriend at the time, the witness, whom police excluded as a possible suspect, was among those who gave evidence last week.

The court heard he was an initial person of interest – and that he had faced questions from Ms Cordingley's father about whether he was involved in his girlfriend's vanishing, prior to her remains were discovered.

Images showing the witness on a walk with a companion on the date Ms Cordingley disappeared have been shown to the court, with an expert saying he was confident the pictures were authentic and had not been altered in any manner.

The trial will resume to the more conventional setting of the courthouse on the next day.