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

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

Jurors involved in a widely publicized Australian murder trial have traveled to the remote beach where the victim was located.

Toyah Cordingley was multiple times stabbed with a bladed weapon and placed in a sandy grave with minimal hope of surviving, the jury has heard.

The remains were found by her father the next day on Wangetti Beach – a section of shoreline nestled 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.

Court Inspection to Crime Scene

The jury of 10 men and two women plus several alternates attended the location along with the judge and barristers on the start of the week local time.

In a acknowledgment of the hot climate and sweltering heat, the judge opted for a T-shirt, athletic wear and trainers rather than a wig and robes.

Both the prosecuting and defense attorneys chose casual shirts, bottoms and baseball caps.

Scene Details

The jurors were led around 1.2km along the beach to see where Ms Cordingley's body were discovered.

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

The visit was designed to help the jurors become acquainted with important sites in the case and no testimony was given.

Context of the Case

Last week, the court was informed that the day after Ms Cordingley's remains were found, the accused flew from Australia to India – leaving behind his wife, family and relatives.

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

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

State Case

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 victim was discovered wearing a swimwear, with all her other clothes and most of her possessions absent.

Those items were removed by the killer to avoid detection, the prosecution allege.

Her dog, Indie, which Ms Cordingley had taken to the beach for a stroll, was located secured 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 crown's case – though circumstantial – was made up of findings that pointed to Mr Singh "excluding other suspects."

This will involve evidence that DNA obtained from a object at the scene was extremely more likely to have originated from Mr Singh than a random member of the public.

The court has already heard evidence indicating that Ms Cordingley's mobile device left the scene after the killing – and that its travel corresponded with those of a vehicle owned by the accused.

Mr Singh's quick exit from Australia also pointed to his involvement, the prosecution has claimed.

Defense Stance

"As the police were finding Toyah's body, he was organizing... a rushed single journey back to India," the prosecutor said last week as he opened his case.

The defense is yet to provided testimony, but in his opening address, Mr Singh's barrister the lawyer portrayed his defendant as a "placid" and "compassionate" man, who was in the "wrong place at the unfortunate moment."

He also foreshadowed evidence to come subsequently that, after his arrest, Mr Singh told an undercover officer he had seen assailants assault Ms Cordingley and then had fled in fear – something he said was his "biggest mistake."

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

Additional Evidence

Ms Cordingley's partner, Marco Heidenreich, whom police quickly ruled out as a person of interest, was among those who gave evidence previously.

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

Photographs depicting Mr Heidenreich on a walk with a friend on the date Ms Cordingley disappeared have been presented to the court, with an expert saying he was confident the photos were authentic and had not been altered in any manner.

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

Anthony Jordan
Anthony Jordan

A seasoned blackjack enthusiast with over a decade of experience in casino gaming and strategy development.