🔗 Share this article

Jurors involved in a high-profile Australian murder trial have traveled to the isolated beach where the victim was discovered.

The 24-year-old victim was multiple times stabbed with a bladed weapon and buried in a shallow resting place with minimal hope of surviving, the jury has heard.

Her body were discovered 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 killing Ms Cordingley on a Sunday afternoon in October 2018 in northern Australia.

Court Visit to Crime Scene

The jury of 12 individuals plus several alternates attended the beach along with the presiding officer and legal counsel on the start of the week in Queensland.

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

Both the prosecuting and defense attorneys chose casual shirts, shorts and baseball caps.

Location Details

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

Earlier, as they traveled to the site, four markers showed where the victim's car had been left.

The visit was designed to help the panel become acquainted with important sites in the case and no official evidence was presented.

Context of the Trial

Previously, the Cairns Supreme Court heard that the following day Ms Cordingley's body were found, Mr Singh departed from Australia to India – leaving behind his spouse, three children and relatives.

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

State Argument

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

The pharmacy worker was discovered wearing a swimwear, with her attire and most of her possessions absent.

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

Her dog, Indie, which Ms Cordingley had taken to the beach for a walk, was located secured to a post hidden in bushland about 30 metres from the grave.

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

But the state says the crown's case – though indirect – was made up of findings that pointed to Mr Singh "excluding other suspects."

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

The jury has already heard evidence indicating 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 sudden departure from Australia also pointed to his involvement, the state has claimed.

Defense Stance

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

The defence is yet to present any evidence, but in his initial statement, Mr Singh's barrister Greg McGuire described his defendant as a "calm" and "caring" man, who was in the "incorrect location at the unfortunate moment."

He also foreshadowed evidence to come subsequently that, after his apprehension, Mr Singh told an undercover officer he had seen assailants attack Ms Cordingley and then had fled in terror – something he said was his "gravest error."

The defense attorney has also said he will testify about individuals "both known and unknown" who should come under suspicion.

Further Evidence

Ms Cordingley's partner, Marco Heidenreich, whom police quickly ruled out as a person of interest, was one who testified last week.

The trial 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 vanishing, even before her remains were found.

Photographs depicting the witness on a hike with a friend on the date Ms Cordingley went missing have been shown to the jury, with an expert saying he was certain the pictures were genuine and had not been doctored in any manner.

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