Jury in Prominent Down Under Homicide Case Visits Shoreline At Which Deceased Was Found
Members of the jury overseeing a high-profile Australian homicide case have been taken to the isolated beach where the victim was located.
Toyah Cordingley was repeatedly attacked with a bladed weapon and placed in a sandy resting place with little or no chance of survival, the court has been told.
Her body were found by her father the next day on Wangetti Beach – a section of shoreline between the popular destinations of Cairns and Port Douglas.
The accused, 41, has pleaded not guilty to killing Ms Cordingley on a Sunday afternoon in October 2018 in Far North Queensland.
Court Inspection to Crime Scene
The jury of 10 men and two women plus three back-up jurors visited the location along with the judge and legal counsel on the start of the week local time.
In a acknowledgment of the tropical conditions and sweltering heat, Justice Lincoln Crowley opted for a T-shirt, athletic wear and sneakers rather than a wig and robes.
Both the prosecuting and defense attorneys chose polo shirts, bottoms and headwear.
Scene Particulars
The jurors were guided around three-quarters of a mile north up the sand to observe where Ms Cordingley's body were discovered.
Upon arrival, as they traveled to the site, several red and white cones indicated where the vehicle had been left.
The visit was designed to help the jurors become familiar with important sites in the case and no testimony was given.
Context of the Trial
Previously, the Cairns Supreme Court was informed that the following day Ms Cordingley's body were found, the accused flew from Australia to India – abandoning his spouse, three children and parents.
He was not heard from until he was apprehended four years later, the prosecution said.
State Case
It is claimed that the defendant, 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 bikini, with all her other clothes and belongings absent.
Those items were taken by the assailant to conceal evidence, the prosecution contend.
Her dog, Indie, which Ms Cordingley had taken to the beach for a stroll, was found secured to a tree hidden in shrubland about 30 metres from the grave.
The weapon was found, and no one have been found.
But the state says the evidence – though indirect – was made up of proof that pointed to Mr Singh "excluding other suspects."
This will include evidence that DNA recovered from a object at the location was extremely more probable to have come from Mr Singh than a unrelated individual of the population.
The jury has already heard evidence suggesting that Ms Cordingley's mobile device departed the scene after the incident – and that its travel corresponded with those of a vehicle belonging to the accused.
Mr Singh's sudden departure from Australia also suggested his involvement, the state has argued.
Defence Stance
"As the police were finding Toyah's body, he was arranging... a hurriedly arranged single journey back to India," the prosecutor said previously as he opened his case.
The defence is has not provided testimony, but in his initial statement, the defense attorney the lawyer portrayed his client 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 apprehension, Mr Singh told an plainclothes agent he had witnessed two masked men attack Ms Cordingley and then had fled in fear – something he said was his "biggest mistake."
The defense attorney has also said he will give evidence about other people "identified and unidentified" who should come under suspicion.
Additional Evidence
Ms Cordingley's boyfriend at the time, the witness, whom police quickly ruled out as a possible suspect, was among those who gave evidence previously.
The court was informed he was an initial person of interest – and that he had faced questions from Ms Cordingley's father about whether he was involved in his girlfriend's vanishing, prior to her body were discovered.
Photographs depicting Mr Heidenreich on a hike with a friend on the date Ms Cordingley disappeared have been shown to the jury, with an specialist saying he was certain the pictures were authentic and had not been doctored in any manner.
The case will return to the standard environment of the courthouse on the next day.