Panel of Jurors in High-Profile Australian Homicide Case Visits Shoreline Where Victim Was Discovered
Jurors involved in a widely publicized Australian murder trial have traveled to the remote shore where the victim was discovered.
The 24-year-old victim was repeatedly stabbed with a sharp object and buried in a shallow resting place with minimal hope of surviving, the court has heard.
The remains were discovered by a family member the next day on Wangetti Beach – a stretch of coastline between the popular destinations of Cairns and Port Douglas.
Rajwinder Singh, 41, has pleaded not guilty to killing Ms Cordingley on a weekend in October 2018 in northern Australia.
Court Inspection to Beach
The panel of 10 men and two women plus several alternates visited the location along with the presiding officer and legal counsel on the start of the week in Queensland.
In a acknowledgment of the hot climate and temperatures above 30C, the judge opted for a T-shirt, sport shorts and sneakers rather than traditional court attire.
Both the prosecuting and defense attorneys selected casual shirts, shorts and baseball caps.
Location Details
The court members were guided around three-quarters of a mile along the beach to see where Ms Cordingley's body were uncovered.
Upon arrival, as they traveled to the site, four red and white cones indicated where the victim's car had been left.
The visit was intended to help the panel become familiar with important sites in the case and no official evidence was given.
Context of the Trial
Last week, the Cairns Supreme Court was informed that the day after Ms Cordingley's remains were found, the accused flew from Australia to India – leaving behind his wife, three children and relatives.
He was not heard from until he was arrested four years later, the state said.
Prosecution Argument
It is alleged that Mr Singh, who was employed in healthcare in the town of Innisfail, near Cairns, had a confrontation with Ms Cordingley.
The victim was found wearing a swimwear, with all her other clothes and belongings absent.
Those objects were taken by the killer to avoid detection, prosecutors contend.
Her dog, Indie, which Ms Cordingley had brought along for a stroll, was located secured to a post hidden in bushland about 30 metres from the grave.
No murder weapon was found, and no eyewitnesses have been found.
But the prosecution says the evidence – though circumstantial – was comprised findings that indicated Mr Singh "and eliminated others."
This will involve evidence that DNA obtained from a stick at the scene was 3.8 billion times more likely to have come from Mr Singh than a random member of the population.
The court has already heard evidence suggesting that Ms Cordingley's mobile device departed the scene after the incident – and that its movements matched those of a blue Alfa Romeo owned by the defendant.
Mr Singh's sudden departure from Australia also suggested his involvement, the prosecution has argued.
Defense Position
"While authorities were discovering Toyah's body, he was organizing... a hurriedly arranged one way trip back to India," Mr Crane said previously as he opened his case.
The defense is has not provided testimony, but in his initial statement, Mr Singh's barrister the lawyer described his defendant as a "calm" and "caring" man, who was in the "incorrect location at the wrong time."
He also foreshadowed testimony to come later in the trial that, after his apprehension, Mr Singh informed an undercover officer he had witnessed two masked men assault Ms Cordingley and then had fled in fear – something he said was his "gravest error."
The defense attorney has also said he will give evidence about individuals "identified and unidentified" who should come under investigation.
Additional Evidence
Ms Cordingley's partner, the witness, whom police quickly ruled out as a possible suspect, was among those who testified previously.
The trial was informed he was an initial police suspect – and that he had faced questions from Ms Cordingley's parent about whether he was involved in his girlfriend's vanishing, prior to her remains were found.
Images depicting the witness on a walk 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 authentic and had not been altered in any way.
The trial will resume to the more conventional setting of the courtroom on the next day.