🔗 Share this article

Members of the jury overseeing a high-profile Australian murder trial have traveled to the remote shore where the victim was located.

The 24-year-old victim was multiple times attacked with a bladed weapon and buried in a shallow grave with minimal hope of surviving, the jury has heard.

The remains were found by a family member the next day on Wangetti Beach – a section of coastline nestled between the popular destinations 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.

Jury Visit to Beach

The jury of 10 men and two women plus three alternates visited the beach along with the judge and barristers on the start of the week in Queensland.

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

Both the prosecuting and defence barristers selected casual shirts, shorts and baseball caps.

Location Details

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

Upon arrival, as they traveled to the site, four markers indicated where the victim's car had been left.

The trip was designed to help the panel become acquainted with important sites in the trial and no testimony was presented.

Background of the Trial

Last week, the court heard that the day after Ms Cordingley's remains were discovered, Mr Singh flew from Australia to India – abandoning his wife, three children and parents.

He was out of contact until he was arrested four years later, the prosecution said.

State Case

It is claimed that Mr Singh, who was working as a nurse in the community of Innisfail, south of Cairns, had a confrontation with Ms Cordingley.

The pharmacy worker was found wearing a swimwear, with all her other clothes and belongings missing.

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

Her dog, Indie, which Ms Cordingley had taken to the beach for a walk, was found tied up to a post concealed in bushland about 100 feet from the burial site.

The weapon was ever recovered, and no eyewitnesses have been identified.

But the prosecution says the crown's case – though circumstantial – was made up of proof that indicated Mr Singh "and eliminated others."

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

The jury has previously been told evidence indicating that Ms Cordingley's mobile device left the beach after the killing – and that its movements matched those of a vehicle owned by the accused.

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

Defence Position

"As the police were finding Toyah's remains, he was organizing... a rushed single journey back to India," Mr Crane said previously as he opened his case.

The defense is yet to present any evidence, but in his initial statement, Mr Singh's barrister the lawyer described his defendant as a "placid" and "caring" man, who was in the "incorrect location at the unfortunate moment."

He also foreshadowed testimony to come later in the trial that, after his arrest, Mr Singh informed an undercover officer he had seen assailants assault Ms Cordingley and then had fled in terror – something he said was his "biggest mistake."

Mr McGuire has also said he will testify about other people "identified and unidentified" who should come under investigation.

Further Evidence

Ms Cordingley's boyfriend at the time, Marco Heidenreich, whom authorities excluded as a person of interest, was among those who gave evidence previously.

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

Photographs depicting the witness on a hike with a companion on the date Ms Cordingley disappeared have been shown to the court, with an specialist saying he was confident the pictures were authentic and had not been doctored in any way.

The trial will return to the standard environment of the courthouse on the next day.