Jury in Prominent Australian Murder Case Tours Beach At Which Deceased Was Discovered

Wangetti Beach scene
The body of Toyah Cordingley were found on a remote coastline in northern Queensland in 2018.

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

Toyah Cordingley was multiple times attacked with a sharp object and placed in a sandy grave with minimal hope of surviving, the court has heard.

Her body were discovered by her father the next day on Wangetti Beach – a stretch of coastline between the tourist centres of Cairns and Port Douglas.

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

Court Visit to Crime Scene

The jury of 12 individuals plus several back-up jurors visited the location along with the presiding officer and legal counsel on Monday morning in Queensland.

In a nod to the hot climate and temperatures above 30C, Justice Lincoln Crowley wore a casual top, athletic wear and trainers rather than traditional court attire.

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

Location Details

The jurors were led around 1.2km north up the sand to observe where Ms Cordingley's body were discovered.

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

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

Context of the Case

Last week, the Cairns Supreme Court was informed that the following day Ms Cordingley's remains were found, the accused flew from Australia to India – abandoning his wife, three children and parents.

He was not heard from 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.

State Case

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

The victim was discovered wearing a swimwear, with her attire and most of her possessions missing.

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

Her dog, Indie, which Ms Cordingley had brought along for a stroll, was found tied up to a post concealed in bushland about 30 metres from the grave.

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

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

This will include evidence that genetic material obtained from a object at the location was 3.8 billion times more probable to have come from Mr Singh than a unrelated individual of the population.

The court has already heard testimony suggesting that Ms Cordingley's phone departed the scene after the incident – and that its movements matched those of a blue Alfa Romeo owned by the defendant.

Mr Singh's sudden departure from Australia also suggested his guilt, the state has argued.

Defense Position

"While authorities were discovering Toyah's body, he was arranging... a rushed one way trip 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, the defense attorney the lawyer portrayed his defendant as a "placid" and "caring" man, who was in the "incorrect location at the wrong time."

He also hinted at evidence to come later in the trial that, after his apprehension, Mr Singh informed an undercover officer he had seen assailants assault Ms Cordingley and then had run away in terror – something he said was his "biggest mistake."

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

Further Testimony

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

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

Images depicting the witness on a hike with a companion on the date Ms Cordingley went missing have been shown to the jury, with an expert saying he was confident the pictures were genuine and had not been doctored in any way.

The trial will return to the more conventional setting of the courthouse on the next day.

Jacob Morris
Jacob Morris

A Milan-based historian and trekking enthusiast with over a decade of experience guiding tours through Italy's architectural marvels.