🔗 Share this article

Jurors overseeing a high-profile Australian homicide case have been taken to the isolated beach where the victim was discovered.

Toyah Cordingley was multiple times attacked with a bladed weapon and buried in a sandy grave with little or no hope of surviving, the jury has heard.

Her body were discovered by her father the next day on Wangetti Beach – a section of shoreline nestled between the popular destinations of Cairns and Port Douglas.

The accused, 41, has pleaded not guilty to murdering Ms Cordingley on a Sunday afternoon in October 2018 in Far North Queensland.

Court Visit to Beach

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

In a acknowledgment of the tropical conditions and temperatures above 30C, Justice Lincoln Crowley opted for a casual top, athletic wear and sneakers rather than a wig and robes.

Both the lead prosecution and defense attorneys selected polo shirts, bottoms and baseball caps.

Location Particulars

The jurors were guided around three-quarters of a mile along the beach to see where Ms Cordingley's body were uncovered.

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

The trip was designed to help the panel become familiar with key locations in the trial and no official evidence was given.

Context of the Trial

Previously, the Cairns Supreme Court was informed that the following day Ms Cordingley's remains were discovered, Mr Singh flew from Australia to India – leaving behind his wife, three children and parents.

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

Prosecution Case

It is alleged that Mr Singh, who was employed in healthcare in the community of Innisfail, south of Cairns, had a altercation with Ms Cordingley.

The pharmacy worker was found wearing a swimwear, with her attire and most of her possessions absent.

Those items were taken by the assailant to avoid detection, the prosecution allege.

Her pet, Indie, which Ms Cordingley had brought along for a stroll, was found secured to a tree hidden in shrubland about 100 feet from the burial site.

The weapon was found, and no eyewitnesses have been identified.

But the prosecution says the crown's case – though circumstantial – was made up of findings that pointed to Mr Singh "excluding other suspects."

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

The court has already heard testimony suggesting that Ms Cordingley's mobile device left the scene after the killing – and that its travel matched those of a blue Alfa Romeo owned by the accused.

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

Defence Position

"While authorities were finding Toyah's body, he was arranging... a hurriedly arranged one way trip back to India," Mr Crane said last week as he began arguments.

The defense is has not present any evidence, but in his initial statement, Mr Singh's barrister Greg McGuire described his defendant as a "calm" and "compassionate" man, who was in the "wrong place at the wrong time."

He also foreshadowed evidence to come subsequently that, after his apprehension, Mr Singh told an plainclothes agent he had witnessed assailants attack Ms Cordingley and then had run away in fear – something he said was his "biggest mistake."

The defense attorney has also said he will testify about other people "both known and unknown" who should come under suspicion.

Additional Testimony

Ms Cordingley's boyfriend at the time, the witness, whom authorities quickly ruled out as a possible suspect, was among those who testified last week.

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

Photographs depicting Mr Heidenreich on a walk with a friend on the day Ms Cordingley went missing have been presented to the court, with an expert saying he was certain the pictures were authentic and had not been doctored in any manner.

The trial will return to the more conventional setting of the courtroom on Tuesday.