🔗 Share this article

Jurors overseeing a widely publicized Australian homicide case have traveled to the isolated shore where the victim was located.

Toyah Cordingley was repeatedly attacked with a sharp object and placed in a shallow resting place with little or no chance of survival, the court has heard.

Her body were found by her father the following day on Wangetti Beach – a section of shoreline nestled between the popular destinations 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.

Court Visit to Beach

The jury of 10 men and two women plus three back-up jurors visited the beach along with the presiding officer and legal counsel on Monday morning in Queensland.

In a nod to the tropical conditions and temperatures above 30C, the judge opted for a casual top, athletic wear and sneakers rather than traditional court attire.

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

Location Details

The jurors were guided around three-quarters of a mile north up the sand to see where Ms Cordingley's remains were discovered.

Earlier, as they traveled to the site, several markers showed 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 given.

Context of the Case

Previously, the Cairns Supreme Court was informed that the day after Ms Cordingley's remains were discovered, the accused flew from Australia to India – abandoning his spouse, family and parents.

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

Prosecution Argument

It is claimed that the defendant, who was working as a nurse in the community of Innisfail, near Cairns, had a confrontation with Ms Cordingley.

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

Those items were taken by the killer to avoid detection, prosecutors contend.

Her pet, Indie, which Ms Cordingley had brought along for a stroll, was found secured to a post concealed in bushland about 30 metres from the burial site.

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

But the prosecution says the crown's case – though circumstantial – was made up of findings that indicated Mr Singh "excluding other suspects."

This will involve evidence that DNA recovered from a object at the scene was 3.8 billion times more probable to have originated from Mr Singh than a random member of the public.

The court has previously been told evidence indicating that Ms Cordingley's mobile device left the scene after the incident – and that its movements matched those of a vehicle owned by the defendant.

Mr Singh's sudden departure from Australia also pointed to his involvement, the prosecution has argued.

Defence Position

"While authorities were discovering Toyah's remains, he was arranging... a rushed one way trip back to India," Mr Crane said last week as he opened his case.

The defence is has not provided testimony, but in his opening address, Mr Singh's barrister the lawyer described his client as a "calm" and "caring" man, who was in the "incorrect location at the wrong time."

He also hinted at testimony to come subsequently that, after his apprehension, Mr Singh told an plainclothes agent he had seen assailants assault Ms Cordingley and then had run away in fear – something he said was his "biggest mistake."

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 person of interest, was among those who gave evidence previously.

The trial was informed he was an initial police suspect – and that he had faced questions from Ms Cordingley's father about whether he was implicated in his girlfriend's disappearance, even before her remains were discovered.

Images depicting Mr Heidenreich on a hike with a companion on the date Ms Cordingley went missing have been shown to the court, with an specialist saying he was confident the pictures were authentic and had not been altered in any way.

The case will resume to the standard environment of the courthouse on the next day.