Jury in Prominent Australian Murder Case Visits Shoreline Where Victim Was Found
Members of the jury overseeing a widely publicized Australian murder trial have traveled to the isolated beach where the victim was discovered.
The 24-year-old victim was repeatedly stabbed with a bladed weapon and placed in a shallow resting place with minimal chance of survival, the court has been told.
The remains were found by her father the next day on Wangetti Beach β a stretch of coastline between the popular destinations 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 jury of 12 individuals plus several alternates attended the location 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, the judge opted for a casual top, sport shorts and trainers rather than a wig and robes.
Both the prosecuting and defence barristers selected casual shirts, shorts and baseball caps.
Location Particulars
The court members were guided around three-quarters of a mile along the beach to observe where Ms Cordingley's body were discovered.
Upon arrival, as they traveled to the site, four markers showed where the vehicle had been parked.
The visit was intended to help the panel become acquainted with key locations in the case and no testimony was given.
Background of the Case
Last week, the court heard that the day after Ms Cordingley's remains were discovered, the accused flew from Australia to India β leaving behind his wife, family and parents.
He was out of contact until he was apprehended four years later, the state said.
State Case
It is claimed that the defendant, who was working as a nurse in the town of Innisfail, near Cairns, had a confrontation with Ms Cordingley.
The victim was discovered wearing a bikini, with all her other clothes and belongings missing.
Those items were removed by the killer to avoid detection, prosecutors allege.
Her dog, Indie, which Ms Cordingley had taken to the beach for a walk, was found tied up to a tree hidden in shrubland about 100 feet from the grave.
The weapon was found, and no eyewitnesses have been identified.
But the prosecution says the crown's case β though circumstantial β was made up of findings that indicated Mr Singh "and eliminated others."
This will include evidence that DNA recovered from a object at the location was 3.8 billion times more probable to have originated from Mr Singh than a random member of the public.
The jury has previously been told testimony suggesting that Ms Cordingley's mobile device departed the beach after the killing β and that its travel corresponded with those of a blue Alfa Romeo belonging to the accused.
Mr Singh's sudden departure from Australia also pointed to his guilt, the prosecution has argued.
Defense Position
"While authorities were finding Toyah's remains, he was arranging... a hurriedly arranged single journey back to India," the prosecutor said previously as he began arguments.
The defence is yet to provided testimony, but in his initial statement, Mr Singh's barrister the lawyer described his client as a "placid" and "caring" man, who was in the "wrong place at the unfortunate moment."
He also hinted at evidence to come subsequently that, after his apprehension, Mr Singh told an plainclothes agent he had witnessed assailants assault Ms Cordingley and then had run away in fear β something he said was his "biggest mistake."
Mr McGuire has also said he will testify about other people "both known and unknown" who should come under investigation.
Additional Testimony
Ms Cordingley's partner, the witness, whom police quickly ruled out as a possible suspect, was one who testified last week.
The court was informed he was an immediate police suspect β and that he had faced questions from Ms Cordingley's parent about whether he was involved in his partner's vanishing, even before her remains were found.
Images depicting the witness on a hike with a friend 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 doctored in any manner.
The trial will resume to the more conventional setting of the courthouse on the next day.