Panel of Jurors in Prominent Australian Murder Trial Tours Shoreline At Which Victim Was Discovered

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

Members of the jury involved in a widely publicized Australian murder trial have traveled to the isolated shore where the young woman was discovered.

The 24-year-old victim was multiple times attacked with a bladed weapon and placed in a sandy resting place with little or no hope of surviving, the court has been told.

Her body were discovered by her father the next day on Wangetti Beach – a stretch of shoreline nestled 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.

Jury Visit to Beach

The jury of 10 men and two women plus several back-up jurors visited the beach along with the judge and barristers on Monday morning in Queensland.

In a nod to the tropical conditions and sweltering heat, the judge opted for a casual top, athletic wear and sneakers rather than traditional court attire.

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

Scene Particulars

The court members were guided around 1.2km along the beach to see where Ms Cordingley's remains were discovered.

Earlier, as they traveled to the site, several markers indicated where the vehicle had been left.

The trip was intended to help the panel become acquainted with key locations in the case and no official evidence was presented.

Context of the Case

Last week, the Cairns Supreme Court was informed that the day after Ms Cordingley's body were found, Mr Singh flew from Australia to India – abandoning his wife, family and parents.

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

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

Prosecution Argument

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

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

Those items were taken by the killer to avoid detection, the prosecution contend.

Her pet, Indie, which Ms Cordingley had brought along for a walk, was found secured to a post hidden in shrubland about 30 metres from the burial site.

The weapon was ever recovered, and no eyewitnesses 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 include evidence that DNA obtained from a object at the location was extremely more likely to have come from Mr Singh than a random member of the public.

The jury has previously been told evidence suggesting that Ms Cordingley's mobile device departed the scene after the incident – and that its movements matched those of a vehicle owned by the defendant.

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

Defence Position

"As the police were finding Toyah's remains, he was organizing... a hurriedly arranged single journey back to India," the prosecutor said last week as he began arguments.

The defence is yet to provided testimony, but in his initial statement, the defense attorney Greg McGuire portrayed his client as a "calm" and "caring" man, who was in the "incorrect location at the unfortunate moment."

He also hinted at testimony to come later in the trial that, after his apprehension, Mr Singh told an plainclothes agent he had witnessed two masked men attack Ms Cordingley and then had run away in terror – something he said was his "gravest error."

The defense attorney has also said he will testify about individuals "identified and unidentified" 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 gave evidence previously.

The court was informed he was an initial person of interest – and that he had faced questions from Ms Cordingley's parent about whether he was involved 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 jury, with an expert saying he was confident the pictures were authentic and had not been doctored in any manner.

The case will return to the more conventional setting of the courtroom on the next day.

Kimberly Barrera
Kimberly Barrera

Tech enthusiast and writer with a passion for exploring emerging technologies and their impact on society.