🔗 Share this article

Members of the jury involved in a widely publicized Australian homicide case have been taken to the remote shore where the victim was discovered.

The 24-year-old victim was multiple times stabbed with a sharp object and buried in a sandy resting place with little or no hope of surviving, the jury has heard.

The remains were discovered by her father the following day on Wangetti Beach – a stretch of coastline 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 northern Australia.

Court Inspection to Beach

The jury of 10 men and two women plus three back-up jurors attended the beach along with the judge and legal counsel on the start of the week local time.

In a acknowledgment of the tropical conditions and temperatures above 30C, the judge opted for a T-shirt, sport shorts and sneakers rather than traditional court attire.

Both the lead prosecution and defense attorneys chose casual shirts, bottoms and headwear.

Location Particulars

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

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

The trip was designed to help the panel become familiar with key locations in the case and no testimony was presented.

Background of the Trial

Last week, the court was informed that the day after Ms Cordingley's body were found, Mr Singh flew from Australia to India – leaving behind his spouse, family and relatives.

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

Prosecution Case

It is claimed that the defendant, who was employed in healthcare in the town of Innisfail, near Cairns, had a altercation 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 contend.

Her dog, Indie, which Ms Cordingley had brought along for a stroll, was located tied up to a post concealed in shrubland about 100 feet from the grave.

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

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

This will include 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 unrelated individual of the public.

The jury has previously been told evidence suggesting that Ms Cordingley's mobile device departed the beach after the incident – and that its travel corresponded with those of a vehicle belonging to the defendant.

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

Defence Position

"As the police were discovering Toyah's body, he was organizing... a rushed single journey back to India," the prosecutor said last week as he opened his case.

The defence is has not present any evidence, but in his opening address, the defense attorney Greg McGuire portrayed his client as a "placid" and "compassionate" man, who was in the "wrong place at the unfortunate moment."

He also hinted at testimony to come subsequently that, after his apprehension, Mr Singh informed an undercover officer he had witnessed two masked men attack Ms Cordingley and then had fled in fear – something he said was his "biggest mistake."

The defense attorney has also said he will testify about individuals "identified and unidentified" who should come under suspicion.

Additional Evidence

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

The trial heard he was an initial person of interest – and that he had been interrogated from Ms Cordingley's parent about whether he was implicated in his girlfriend's vanishing, prior to her remains were found.

Images depicting Mr Heidenreich on a walk with a friend on the date Ms Cordingley disappeared have been presented to the jury, with an specialist saying he was confident the pictures were genuine and had not been doctored in any way.

The case will return to the standard environment of the courthouse on Tuesday.