Panel of Jurors in High-Profile Australian Homicide Case Tours Shoreline Where Victim Was Found

Jurors overseeing a widely publicized Queensland murder trial have traveled to the isolated beach where the victim was located.

The 24-year-old victim was repeatedly attacked with a bladed weapon and placed in a sandy grave with minimal hope of surviving, the jury has heard.

Her body were found by her father the following day on Wangetti Beach – a stretch of coastline nestled between the tourist centres 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 12 individuals plus several alternates visited the beach along with the presiding officer and legal counsel on the start of the week local time.

In a nod to the tropical conditions and sweltering heat, the judge opted for a T-shirt, athletic wear and sneakers rather than a wig and robes.

Both the lead prosecution and defense attorneys selected casual shirts, bottoms and baseball caps.

Location Details

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

Earlier, as they arrived by bus, several red and white cones showed where the victim's car had been left.

The trip was designed to help the panel become acquainted with key locations in the case and no official evidence was presented.

Background of the Case

Previously, the Cairns Supreme Court was informed that the following day Ms Cordingley's body were found, Mr Singh flew from Australia to India – abandoning his wife, three children and parents.

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

Prosecution Argument

It is alleged that the defendant, who was employed in healthcare in the community of Innisfail, south of Cairns, had a confrontation with Ms Cordingley.

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

Those items were removed by the assailant to conceal evidence, prosecutors allege.

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 burial site.

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

But the state says the evidence – though indirect – was comprised proof that indicated Mr Singh "and eliminated others."

This will involve testimony that genetic material recovered from a object at the location was 3.8 billion times more probable to have come from Mr Singh than a random member of the public.

The court has already heard testimony suggesting that Ms Cordingley's mobile device departed the beach after the killing – and that its movements corresponded with those of a vehicle belonging to the defendant.

Mr Singh's quick exit from Australia also pointed to his guilt, the state has argued.

Defense Stance

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

The defense is has not present any evidence, but in his initial statement, Mr Singh's barrister the lawyer described his client as a "placid" and "caring" man, who was in the "wrong place at the unfortunate moment."

He also hinted at evidence to come subsequently that, after his apprehension, Mr Singh informed an plainclothes agent he had witnessed two masked men attack Ms Cordingley and then had run away in fear – something he said was his "gravest error."

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

Further Testimony

Ms Cordingley's boyfriend at the time, the witness, whom authorities quickly ruled out as a person of interest, was among those who testified last week.

The trial heard he was an immediate police suspect – and that he had faced questions from Ms Cordingley's father about whether he was implicated in his partner's vanishing, even before her remains were found.

Photographs 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 photos were authentic and had not been doctored in any manner.

The case will resume to the more conventional setting of the courtroom on Tuesday.