Jury in High-Profile Down Under Homicide Trial Tours Shoreline Where Victim Was Discovered

Wangetti Beach scene
The remains of Toyah Cordingley was discovered on a remote beach in northern Queensland in 2018.

Jurors overseeing a high-profile Queensland homicide case have traveled to the remote beach where the young woman was discovered.

The 24-year-old victim was repeatedly stabbed with a sharp object and buried in a sandy grave with little or no chance of survival, the court has heard.

The remains were discovered by her father the following day on Wangetti Beach – a section of shoreline between the tourist centres of Cairns and Port Douglas.

The accused, 41, has pleaded not guilty to murdering Ms Cordingley on a weekend in October 2018 in northern Australia.

Jury Inspection to Beach

The jury of 12 individuals plus three alternates attended the beach along with the judge and barristers on the start of the week in Queensland.

In a acknowledgment of the tropical conditions and temperatures above 30C, Justice Lincoln Crowley wore a T-shirt, athletic wear and trainers rather than traditional court attire.

Both the lead prosecution and defense attorneys chose casual shirts, shorts and baseball caps.

Location Particulars

The jurors were guided around 1.2km along the beach to observe where Ms Cordingley's body were uncovered.

Upon arrival, as they arrived by bus, several red and white cones showed where the victim's car had been left.

The visit was designed to help the jurors become familiar with key locations in the trial and no testimony was given.

Background of the Case

Previously, the court was informed that the day after Ms Cordingley's remains were found, Mr Singh flew from Australia to India – leaving behind his wife, three children and relatives.

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

Court officials at the beach
The judge with legal representatives and other court officials at Wangetti Beach.

Prosecution Case

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

The victim was discovered wearing a bikini, with all her other clothes and belongings missing.

Those items were removed by the assailant to conceal evidence, prosecutors contend.

Her dog, Indie, which Ms Cordingley had brought along for a stroll, was located tied up to a post hidden in bushland about 100 feet from the burial site.

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 indicated Mr Singh "and eliminated others."

This will include evidence that DNA obtained from a stick at the scene was 3.8 billion times more probable to have come from Mr Singh than a random member of the public.

The court has already heard testimony indicating that Ms Cordingley's mobile device departed the scene after the killing – and that its movements matched those of a blue Alfa Romeo belonging to the accused.

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

Defence Position

"As the police were finding Toyah's body, he was arranging... a hurriedly arranged one way trip back to India," the prosecutor said last week as he opened his case.

The defence is has not provided testimony, but in his initial statement, the defense attorney Greg McGuire 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 subsequently that, after his arrest, Mr Singh told an plainclothes agent he had seen two masked men assault Ms Cordingley and then had fled in terror – something he said was his "biggest mistake."

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

Further Testimony

Ms Cordingley's partner, Marco Heidenreich, whom authorities excluded as a person of interest, was one who gave evidence last week.

The trial heard he was an initial person of interest – and that he had faced questions from Ms Cordingley's father about whether he was involved in his girlfriend's vanishing, even before her body were discovered.

Photographs showing the witness on a hike with a companion on the day Ms Cordingley disappeared have been presented to the jury, with an specialist saying he was certain the photos were authentic and had not been doctored in any manner.

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

David Baker
David Baker

A seasoned voice technology specialist with over a decade of experience in developing AI-driven communication solutions.

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