Panel of Jurors in Prominent Down Under Murder Trial Tours Beach Where Deceased Was Discovered

Jurors involved in a widely publicized Queensland homicide case have been taken to the isolated beach where the young woman was discovered.

The 24-year-old victim was multiple times attacked with a sharp object and placed in a sandy resting place with little or no chance of survival, the jury has been told.

Her body were found by a family member the following 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 jury of 10 men and two women plus three back-up jurors visited the beach along with the judge and barristers on Monday morning local time.

In a nod to the tropical conditions and temperatures above 30C, Justice Lincoln Crowley wore a T-shirt, sport shorts and sneakers rather than traditional court attire.

Both the lead prosecution and defense attorneys selected casual shirts, shorts and baseball caps.

Scene Particulars

The court members were led around 1.2km along the beach to see where Ms Cordingley's body were discovered.

Earlier, as they arrived by bus, several red and white cones indicated where the vehicle had been left.

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

Context of the Trial

Previously, the Cairns Supreme Court heard that the following day Ms Cordingley's body were found, Mr Singh departed from Australia to India – abandoning his spouse, three children and parents.

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

Prosecution Argument

It is alleged that the defendant, who was employed in healthcare in the community of Innisfail, near Cairns, had a confrontation with Ms Cordingley.

The pharmacy worker was discovered wearing a swimwear, 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 stroll, was found secured to a post hidden in shrubland about 100 feet from the grave.

The weapon was found, and no eyewitnesses have been identified.

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

This will involve testimony that DNA obtained from a object at the location was extremely more probable to have originated from Mr Singh than a random member of the public.

The jury has already heard evidence suggesting that Ms Cordingley's mobile device departed the beach after the killing – and that its movements corresponded with those of a blue Alfa Romeo owned by the defendant.

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

Defence Position

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

The defence is yet to provided testimony, but in his opening address, Mr Singh's barrister the lawyer described his client as a "calm" and "compassionate" man, who was in the "wrong place at the wrong time."

He also foreshadowed evidence to come subsequently that, after his arrest, Mr Singh informed an undercover officer he had witnessed assailants attack Ms Cordingley and then had run away in fear – something he said was his "biggest mistake."

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

Further Evidence

Ms Cordingley's partner, Marco Heidenreich, whom authorities quickly ruled out as a person of interest, was one who gave evidence last week.

The trial was informed he was an immediate police suspect – and that he had faced questions from Ms Cordingley's parent about whether he was involved in his partner's vanishing, prior to her remains were discovered.

Images depicting Mr Heidenreich on a walk with a friend on the day Ms Cordingley disappeared have been presented to the jury, with an specialist saying he was confident the photos were authentic and had not been altered in any way.

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