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

Wangetti Beach scene
The body of Toyah Cordingley was discovered on a remote beach in Far North Queensland in 2018.

Members of the jury overseeing a high-profile Queensland homicide case have traveled to the isolated shore where the young woman was located.

The 24-year-old victim was repeatedly attacked with a sharp object and placed in a shallow resting place with little or no chance of survival, the jury has been told.

Her body were found by a family member the following day on Wangetti Beach – a stretch of shoreline between the popular destinations of Cairns and Port Douglas.

Rajwinder Singh, 41, denies murdering Ms Cordingley on a weekend in October 2018 in northern Australia.

Court Visit to Beach

The panel of 12 individuals plus several alternates attended the location along with the judge and legal counsel on the start of the week local time.

In a nod to 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 lead prosecution and defense attorneys chose polo shirts, bottoms and baseball caps.

Location Particulars

The jurors were led around 1.2km along the beach to see where Ms Cordingley's remains were discovered.

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

The visit was intended to help the jurors become acquainted with important sites in the trial and no official evidence was presented.

Background of the Case

Last week, the court was informed that the following day Ms Cordingley's body were discovered, Mr Singh departed from Australia to India – abandoning his spouse, family and parents.

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

Court officials at the beach
Justice Lincoln Crowley with barristers and other court officials at Wangetti Beach.

State Case

It is alleged that the defendant, who was working as a nurse in the community of Innisfail, near Cairns, had a altercation with Ms Cordingley.

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

Those objects were taken by the killer to conceal evidence, prosecutors allege.

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

The weapon was ever recovered, and no eyewitnesses have been identified.

But the state says the crown's case – though circumstantial – was comprised proof that pointed to Mr Singh "excluding other suspects."

This will involve testimony that genetic material 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 jury has previously been told testimony indicating that Ms Cordingley's mobile device left the scene after the incident – and that its movements corresponded with those of a blue Alfa Romeo belonging to the defendant.

Mr Singh's sudden departure from Australia also suggested his involvement, the prosecution has argued.

Defence Position

"While authorities were finding Toyah's remains, he was organizing... a rushed one way trip back to India," Mr Crane said previously as he began arguments.

The defense is yet to provided testimony, but in his opening address, the defense attorney the lawyer described his defendant as a "placid" and "compassionate" man, who was in the "wrong place at the wrong time."

He also hinted at evidence to come later in the trial that, after his arrest, Mr Singh informed an undercover officer he had seen two masked men assault Ms Cordingley and then had fled in fear – something he said was his "gravest error."

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

Further Testimony

Ms Cordingley's partner, the witness, whom police quickly ruled out as a possible suspect, was among those who testified previously.

The trial heard he was an initial police suspect – and that he had been interrogated from Ms Cordingley's father about whether he was involved in his girlfriend's disappearance, even before her body were found.

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

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

Amy Smith
Amy Smith

A seasoned IT consultant with over a decade of experience in cybersecurity and cloud computing, passionate about sharing knowledge.