🔗 Share this article

Members of the jury involved in a high-profile Australian homicide case have traveled to the isolated beach where the young woman was discovered.

The 24-year-old victim was repeatedly stabbed with a bladed weapon and buried in a shallow grave with minimal hope of surviving, the court has heard.

The remains were found by a family member the following day on Wangetti Beach – a section of coastline between the tourist centres of Cairns and Port Douglas.

Rajwinder Singh, 41, has pleaded not guilty to killing Ms Cordingley on a Sunday afternoon in October 2018 in northern Australia.

Jury Inspection to Crime Scene

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

In a acknowledgment of the hot climate and sweltering heat, the judge opted for a T-shirt, athletic wear and sneakers rather than a wig and robes.

Both the prosecuting and defence barristers chose polo shirts, bottoms and baseball caps.

Scene Particulars

The jurors were led around 1.2km north up the sand to observe where Ms Cordingley's body were discovered.

Earlier, as they traveled to the site, several red and white cones showed where the vehicle had been parked.

The trip was intended to help the panel become familiar with important sites in the trial and no official evidence was given.

Context of the Case

Previously, the court heard that the following day Ms Cordingley's body were discovered, Mr Singh flew from Australia to India – leaving behind 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 the defendant, who was working as a nurse in the town of Innisfail, near Cairns, had a confrontation with Ms Cordingley.

The victim was discovered wearing a swimwear, with her attire and most of her possessions missing.

Those items were removed by the killer to conceal evidence, the prosecution allege.

Her dog, Indie, which Ms Cordingley had taken to the beach for a stroll, was found tied up to a tree hidden in shrubland about 100 feet from the grave.

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

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

This will involve testimony that genetic material recovered from a stick at the scene was 3.8 billion times more likely to have originated from Mr Singh than a random member of the public.

The court has previously been told evidence suggesting that Ms Cordingley's mobile device left the beach after the incident – and that its travel matched those of a blue Alfa Romeo owned by the defendant.

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

Defence Stance

"While authorities were discovering Toyah's remains, he was arranging... a rushed single journey back to India," the prosecutor said previously as he opened his case.

The defence is yet to provided testimony, but in his initial statement, the defense attorney the lawyer described his client as a "calm" and "compassionate" man, who was in the "incorrect location at the wrong time."

He also foreshadowed evidence to come subsequently that, after his apprehension, Mr Singh informed an undercover officer he had witnessed assailants attack Ms Cordingley and then had run away in fear – something he said was his "biggest mistake."

The defense attorney has also said he will give evidence about other people "both known and unknown" who should come under suspicion.

Further Evidence

Ms Cordingley's partner, the witness, whom authorities quickly ruled out as a possible suspect, 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 father about whether he was involved in his girlfriend's disappearance, even before her remains were discovered.

Photographs showing the witness on a walk with a friend on the day Ms Cordingley went missing have been shown to the jury, with an expert saying he was confident the photos were genuine and had not been doctored in any way.

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