Jury in Prominent Down Under Murder Trial Tours Shoreline Where Victim Was Discovered

Members of the jury involved in a widely publicized Australian murder trial have traveled to the remote shore where the young woman was located.

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

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

Rajwinder Singh, 41, has pleaded not guilty to murdering Ms Cordingley on a Sunday afternoon in October 2018 in Far North Queensland.

Jury Visit to Crime Scene

The jury of 10 men and two women plus several alternates attended the beach along with the judge and barristers on the start of the week in Queensland.

In a nod to the hot climate and temperatures above 30C, the judge wore a T-shirt, athletic wear and trainers rather than traditional court attire.

Both the lead prosecution and defense attorneys selected polo shirts, bottoms and headwear.

Scene Particulars

The court members were led around three-quarters of a mile north up the sand to see where Ms Cordingley's body were discovered.

Upon arrival, as they arrived by bus, four markers indicated where the vehicle had been left.

The visit was designed to help the panel become acquainted with important sites in the case and no official evidence was given.

Background of the Trial

Previously, the Cairns Supreme Court was informed that the day after Ms Cordingley's body were found, the accused flew from Australia to India – leaving behind his wife, three children and relatives.

He was out of contact until he was apprehended four years later, the prosecution said.

State Case

It is claimed that Mr Singh, who was working as a nurse in the town of Innisfail, near Cairns, had a altercation with Ms Cordingley.

The pharmacy worker was found wearing a swimwear, with her attire and belongings missing.

Those objects were taken by the assailant to avoid detection, prosecutors allege.

Her pet, Indie, which Ms Cordingley had taken to the beach for a stroll, was found tied up to a tree concealed in shrubland about 100 feet from the burial site.

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

But the state says the evidence – though indirect – was comprised findings that pointed to Mr Singh "excluding other suspects."

This will involve evidence that genetic material obtained from a stick at the location was extremely more probable to have originated from Mr Singh than a unrelated individual of the population.

The court has already heard evidence indicating that Ms Cordingley's mobile device departed the scene after the killing – and that its movements matched those of a blue Alfa Romeo owned by the defendant.

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

Defence Stance

"As the police were discovering Toyah's body, he was organizing... a hurriedly arranged one way trip back to India," the prosecutor said previously as he began arguments.

The defense is yet to provided testimony, but in his opening address, the defense attorney the lawyer portrayed his defendant as a "calm" and "caring" man, who was in the "wrong place at the unfortunate moment."

He also foreshadowed testimony to come later in the trial that, after his arrest, Mr Singh told an plainclothes agent he had witnessed assailants assault Ms Cordingley and then had run away in terror – something he said was his "gravest error."

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

Further Testimony

Ms Cordingley's partner, the witness, whom authorities excluded as a person of interest, was among those who gave evidence last week.

The court heard he was an immediate police suspect – and that he had been interrogated from Ms Cordingley's parent about whether he was involved in his girlfriend's disappearance, prior to her body were discovered.

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

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