Jury in Prominent Australian Murder Case Visits Shoreline Where Victim Was Found

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

Members of the jury involved in a high-profile Queensland homicide case have been taken to the isolated shore where the victim was located.

The 24-year-old victim was multiple times attacked with a sharp object and placed in a sandy grave with little or no hope of surviving, the jury has been told.

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

The accused, 41, denies murdering Ms Cordingley on a weekend in October 2018 in northern Australia.

Court Visit to Crime Scene

The jury of 12 individuals plus several alternates visited the beach along with the judge and legal counsel on Monday morning in Queensland.

In a acknowledgment of the tropical conditions and temperatures above 30C, Justice Lincoln Crowley wore a T-shirt, athletic wear and trainers rather than traditional court attire.

Both the lead prosecution and defence barristers selected casual shirts, shorts and headwear.

Location Details

The jurors were guided around three-quarters of a mile north up the sand to see where Ms Cordingley's remains were uncovered.

Upon arrival, as they arrived by bus, several markers indicated where the vehicle had been parked.

The trip was designed to help the jurors become familiar with key locations in the case and no testimony was presented.

Context of the Trial

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

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

Court officials at the beach
Justice Lincoln Crowley with barristers and other personnel at Wangetti Beach.

Prosecution Case

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

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

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

Her dog, Indie, which Ms Cordingley had brought along for a walk, was found secured to a post concealed in shrubland about 100 feet from the grave.

The weapon was ever recovered, and no one have been found.

But the prosecution says the evidence – though circumstantial – was comprised proof that pointed to Mr Singh "and eliminated others."

This will involve evidence that DNA obtained from a stick at the location was 3.8 billion times more probable to have originated from Mr Singh than a random member of the public.

The jury has already heard testimony indicating that Ms Cordingley's phone departed the scene after the killing – and that its movements matched those of a vehicle belonging to the defendant.

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

Defence Stance

"While authorities were discovering Toyah's remains, he was organizing... a hurriedly arranged one way trip back to India," the prosecutor said last week as he opened his case.

The defense is has not present any evidence, but in his opening address, Mr Singh's barrister 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 testimony to come subsequently that, after his apprehension, Mr Singh told an plainclothes agent he had seen assailants assault Ms Cordingley and then had run away in fear – something he said was his "biggest mistake."

The defense attorney has also said he will give evidence about other people "identified and unidentified" who should come under investigation.

Additional Testimony

Ms Cordingley's boyfriend at the time, the witness, whom police quickly ruled out as a person of interest, was among those who testified previously.

The court was informed he was an immediate police suspect – and that he had been interrogated from Ms Cordingley's father about whether he was implicated in his girlfriend's vanishing, prior to her remains were found.

Photographs showing Mr Heidenreich on a hike with a companion on the day Ms Cordingley disappeared have been shown to the court, with an specialist saying he was certain the pictures were genuine and had not been altered in any manner.

The trial will resume to the more conventional setting of the courtroom on the next day.

Jonathan Miles
Jonathan Miles

A seasoned journalist with a passion for uncovering stories at the intersection of technology and society.