🔗 Share this article

Members of the jury overseeing a high-profile Queensland homicide case have been taken to the isolated beach where the victim was located.

Toyah Cordingley was multiple times attacked with a sharp object and buried in a shallow grave with minimal hope of surviving, the court has been told.

The remains were found by her father the next day on Wangetti Beach – a stretch 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 Far North Queensland.

Jury Inspection to Crime Scene

The panel of 10 men and two women plus several back-up jurors attended the beach along with the presiding officer and barristers on the start of the week in Queensland.

In a nod to the hot climate and sweltering heat, Justice Lincoln Crowley wore a casual top, athletic wear and sneakers rather than a wig and robes.

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

Location Particulars

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

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

The visit was designed to help the jurors become familiar with key locations in the case and no official evidence was presented.

Background of the Trial

Previously, the court heard that the day after Ms Cordingley's remains were discovered, Mr Singh flew from Australia to India – leaving behind his wife, family and relatives.

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

State Case

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

The victim was found wearing a swimwear, with all her other clothes and most of her possessions missing.

Those items were taken by the killer to avoid detection, prosecutors allege.

Her dog, Indie, which Ms Cordingley had taken to the beach for a walk, was found tied up to a post hidden in shrubland about 30 metres from the burial site.

The weapon was ever recovered, and no one have been found.

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

This will include evidence that genetic material recovered from a object at the location was 3.8 billion times more likely to have originated from Mr Singh than a random member of the population.

The jury has previously been told evidence suggesting that Ms Cordingley's phone departed the beach after the killing – and that its travel matched those of a vehicle belonging to the accused.

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

Defence Stance

"As the police were finding Toyah's remains, he was organizing... a rushed single journey back to India," Mr Crane said previously as he opened his case.

The defense is has not provided testimony, but in his opening address, the defense attorney Greg McGuire described his client as a "calm" and "caring" man, who was in the "incorrect location at the unfortunate moment."

He also foreshadowed testimony to come subsequently that, after his arrest, Mr Singh informed an undercover officer he had witnessed assailants assault Ms Cordingley and then had run away in terror – something he said was his "gravest error."

Mr McGuire has also said he will give evidence about other people "identified and unidentified" who should come under investigation.

Additional Evidence

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

The court 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, prior to her remains were found.

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

The case will return to the standard environment of the courtroom on the next day.