Panel of Jurors in Prominent Australian Homicide Case Tours Shoreline Where Victim Was Found

Members of the jury involved in a widely publicized Australian murder trial have been taken to the isolated beach where the victim was located.

The 24-year-old victim was multiple times attacked with a sharp object and placed in a shallow grave with minimal chance of survival, the jury has been told.

Her body were discovered by a family member the next day on Wangetti Beach – a section of shoreline between the tourist centres of Cairns and Port Douglas.

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

Court Inspection to Crime Scene

The jury of 10 men and two women plus several back-up jurors visited the location 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 opted for a T-shirt, athletic wear and sneakers rather than a wig and robes.

Both the lead prosecution and defence barristers selected casual shirts, shorts and headwear.

Location Particulars

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

Earlier, as they traveled to the site, several red and white cones showed where the victim's car had been parked.

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

Background of the Trial

Last week, the court heard that the following day Ms Cordingley's body were found, the accused departed from Australia to India – leaving behind his wife, family and relatives.

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

Prosecution Argument

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

The pharmacy worker was discovered wearing a bikini, with her attire and belongings missing.

Those objects were removed by the assailant to avoid detection, the prosecution allege.

Her pet, Indie, which Ms Cordingley had taken to the beach for a walk, was found secured to a tree concealed in shrubland about 100 feet from the grave.

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

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

This will involve evidence that DNA obtained from a stick at the location was extremely more probable to have originated from Mr Singh than a unrelated individual of the public.

The court has previously been told evidence indicating that Ms Cordingley's mobile device departed the beach after the incident – and that its travel matched those of a vehicle owned by the defendant.

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

Defence Position

"While authorities were discovering Toyah's body, he was organizing... a rushed one way trip back to India," Mr Crane said previously as he opened his case.

The defence is yet to provided testimony, but in his opening address, the defense attorney the lawyer portrayed his client as a "placid" and "caring" man, who was in the "incorrect location at the wrong time."

He also hinted at testimony to come later in the trial that, after his arrest, Mr Singh told an undercover officer he had witnessed assailants attack Ms Cordingley and then had run away in terror – something he said was his "biggest mistake."

Mr McGuire has also said he will testify about individuals "both known and unknown" who should come under suspicion.

Further Testimony

Ms Cordingley's partner, the witness, whom authorities quickly ruled out as a possible suspect, was among those who gave evidence last week.

The trial heard he was an immediate police suspect – and that he had faced questions from Ms Cordingley's parent about whether he was involved in his partner's vanishing, even before her remains were discovered.

Images showing the witness on a walk with a friend on the day Ms Cordingley went missing have been presented to the court, with an specialist saying he was certain the pictures were authentic and had not been altered in any way.

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