Panel of Jurors in Prominent Down Under Murder Case Tours Shoreline At Which Deceased Was Discovered

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

Jurors overseeing a widely publicized Australian murder trial have traveled to the remote beach where the victim was discovered.

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

The remains were discovered by her father the next day on Wangetti Beach – a section 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.

Jury Visit to Crime Scene

The jury of 12 individuals plus three back-up jurors attended the beach along with the presiding officer and legal counsel on the start of the week in Queensland.

In a acknowledgment of the tropical conditions and temperatures above 30C, the judge wore a T-shirt, sport shorts and sneakers rather than traditional court attire.

Both the lead prosecution and defence barristers selected casual shirts, bottoms and baseball caps.

Scene Details

The court members were led around 1.2km north up the sand to see where Ms Cordingley's remains were uncovered.

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

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

Background of the Trial

Last week, the court was informed that the day after Ms Cordingley's remains were discovered, Mr Singh flew from Australia to India – leaving behind his wife, three children and parents.

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

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

Prosecution Argument

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

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

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

Her pet, Indie, which Ms Cordingley had brought along for a stroll, was located tied up to a post hidden in bushland about 100 feet from the burial site.

No murder weapon was found, and no one have been identified.

But the prosecution says the evidence – though circumstantial – was made up of proof that pointed to Mr Singh "and eliminated others."

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

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

Mr Singh's sudden departure from Australia also pointed to his guilt, the state has claimed.

Defence Stance

"As the police were finding Toyah's remains, he was arranging... a rushed single journey back to India," Mr Crane said previously as he opened his case.

The defense is has not present any evidence, but in his initial statement, the defense attorney Greg McGuire portrayed his defendant as a "calm" 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 arrest, Mr Singh told an plainclothes agent he had seen two masked men assault Ms Cordingley and then had fled in fear – something he said was his "gravest error."

Mr McGuire has also said he will testify about other people "both known and unknown" who should come under suspicion.

Additional Testimony

Ms Cordingley's boyfriend at the time, Marco Heidenreich, whom authorities excluded as a possible suspect, was one who gave evidence previously.

The court was informed he was an immediate person of interest – and that he had been interrogated from Ms Cordingley's parent about whether he was involved in his girlfriend's disappearance, even before her remains were found.

Images depicting Mr Heidenreich on a hike with a companion on the day Ms Cordingley disappeared have been presented to the jury, with an expert saying he was certain the pictures were genuine and had not been altered in any manner.

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

Steven Mcgee
Steven Mcgee

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