Panel of Jurors in Prominent Australian Homicide Case Tours Shoreline At Which Victim Was Discovered

Wangetti Beach scene
The remains of Toyah Cordingley were found on a remote beach in northern Queensland back in 2018.

Jurors involved in a high-profile Australian murder trial have been taken to the isolated shore where the young woman was discovered.

The 24-year-old victim was multiple times stabbed with a bladed weapon and buried in a sandy resting place with minimal chance of survival, the court has been told.

The remains were found by her father the following day on Wangetti Beach – a section of coastline between the popular destinations of Cairns and Port Douglas.

The accused, 41, denies murdering Ms Cordingley on a Sunday afternoon in October 2018 in northern Australia.

Court Visit to Crime Scene

The panel of 12 individuals plus several alternates visited the beach along with the presiding officer and barristers on Monday morning local time.

In a acknowledgment of the hot climate and sweltering heat, Justice Lincoln Crowley opted for a T-shirt, sport shorts and sneakers rather than traditional court attire.

Both the prosecuting and defence barristers chose polo shirts, shorts and headwear.

Location Particulars

The jurors were led around 1.2km along the beach to observe where Ms Cordingley's body were discovered.

Earlier, as they traveled to the site, four red and white cones indicated where the victim's car had been parked.

The trip was designed to help the jurors become familiar with key locations in the case and no official evidence was presented.

Context of the Trial

Previously, the Cairns Supreme 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 parents.

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

Court officials at the beach
The judge with legal representatives and other personnel at Wangetti Beach.

State Case

It is claimed that Mr Singh, who was employed in healthcare in the community of Innisfail, south of Cairns, had a altercation with Ms Cordingley.

The victim was discovered wearing a swimwear, with all her other clothes and belongings absent.

Those items were taken by the killer to conceal evidence, the prosecution allege.

Her pet, Indie, which Ms Cordingley had taken to the beach for a stroll, was located secured to a post hidden 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 circumstantial – was made up of findings that pointed to Mr Singh "excluding other suspects."

This will involve testimony that genetic material recovered from a object at the location was extremely more likely to have come from Mr Singh than a unrelated individual of the public.

The court has previously been told testimony suggesting that Ms Cordingley's phone departed the beach after the incident – and that its movements matched those of a blue Alfa Romeo owned by the defendant.

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

Defence Stance

"As the police were finding Toyah's remains, he was arranging... a hurriedly arranged one way trip back to India," the prosecutor said last week as he opened his case.

The defence is has not present any evidence, but in his opening address, the defense attorney Greg McGuire described his client as a "placid" and "compassionate" man, who was in the "incorrect location at the wrong time."

He also hinted at testimony to come later in the trial that, after his apprehension, Mr Singh informed an plainclothes agent he had seen assailants attack Ms Cordingley and then had fled in terror – something he said was his "gravest error."

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

Additional Testimony

Ms Cordingley's boyfriend at the time, the witness, whom police quickly ruled out as a possible suspect, was among those who testified last week.

The trial was informed he was an initial person of interest – and that he had faced questions from Ms Cordingley's parent about whether he was implicated in his girlfriend's vanishing, prior to her body were discovered.

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

The trial will resume to the standard environment of the courtroom on Tuesday.

Kevin Cook
Kevin Cook

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