Jury in Prominent Down Under Murder Trial Tours Beach Where Deceased Was Found

Members of the jury overseeing a high-profile Queensland murder trial have been taken to the remote shore where the victim was located.

Toyah Cordingley was multiple times stabbed with a bladed weapon and placed in a sandy resting place with minimal hope of surviving, the jury has heard.

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, denies murdering Ms Cordingley on a Sunday afternoon in October 2018 in Far North Queensland.

Jury Inspection to Beach

The jury of 10 men and two women plus several alternates attended the beach along with the judge and legal counsel on Monday morning in Queensland.

In a acknowledgment of the hot climate and temperatures above 30C, the judge opted for a casual top, athletic wear and trainers rather than traditional court attire.

Both the lead prosecution and defense attorneys chose 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, several red and white cones indicated where the victim's car had been left.

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

Context of the Trial

Previously, the court was informed that the day after Ms Cordingley's remains were discovered, Mr Singh departed from Australia to India – abandoning his spouse, three children and parents.

He was not heard from until he was apprehended years after, 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 confrontation with Ms Cordingley.

The victim was found wearing a bikini, with all her other clothes and most of her possessions missing.

Those objects were taken by the killer to avoid detection, the prosecution contend.

Her pet, Indie, which Ms Cordingley had taken to the beach for a walk, was located secured to a tree concealed in shrubland about 30 metres from the burial site.

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

But the prosecution says the evidence – though indirect – was comprised proof that pointed to Mr Singh "and eliminated others."

This will include testimony that DNA recovered from a stick 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 already heard evidence suggesting that Ms Cordingley's mobile device departed the beach after the killing – and that its travel matched those of a blue Alfa Romeo belonging to the accused.

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

Defence Stance

"As the police were finding Toyah's body, he was arranging... a hurriedly arranged single journey back to India," the prosecutor said last week as he began arguments.

The defence is has not provided testimony, but in his initial statement, Mr Singh's barrister the lawyer portrayed his defendant as a "calm" and "compassionate" man, who was in the "wrong place at the wrong time."

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

The defense attorney has also said he will give evidence about individuals "identified and unidentified" who should come under investigation.

Further Testimony

Ms Cordingley's boyfriend at the time, the witness, whom authorities quickly ruled out as a possible suspect, was one who gave evidence previously.

The trial heard 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 partner's vanishing, prior to her body were discovered.

Photographs showing 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 certain the pictures were genuine and had not been altered in any way.

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