Jury in Prominent Down Under Murder Trial Tours Beach At Which Deceased Was Found

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

Jurors overseeing a high-profile Australian murder trial have traveled to the isolated beach where the victim was discovered.

The 24-year-old victim was repeatedly attacked with a bladed weapon and placed in a sandy grave with minimal hope of surviving, the court has heard.

Her body were found by her father the following day on Wangetti Beach – a section of shoreline between the tourist centres of Cairns and Port Douglas.

The accused, 41, has pleaded not guilty to murdering Ms Cordingley on a weekend in October 2018 in northern Australia.

Court Visit to Crime Scene

The panel of 12 individuals plus several back-up jurors attended the location 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, the judge opted for a casual top, athletic wear and sneakers rather than traditional court attire.

Both the prosecuting and defense attorneys selected casual shirts, bottoms and headwear.

Location Particulars

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

Earlier, as they traveled to the site, several markers indicated where the victim's car had been parked.

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

Background of the Trial

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

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.

Prosecution Case

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

The victim was found wearing a bikini, with her attire and belongings missing.

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

Her dog, Indie, which Ms Cordingley had taken to the beach for a stroll, was found secured to a tree hidden in shrubland about 100 feet from the burial site.

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

But the state says the crown's case – though indirect – was comprised findings that indicated Mr Singh "and eliminated others."

This will involve evidence that DNA obtained from a object at the scene was extremely more probable to have come from Mr Singh than a unrelated individual of the public.

The court has previously been told evidence indicating that Ms Cordingley's phone left the beach after the killing – and that its travel matched those of a blue Alfa Romeo belonging to the defendant.

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

Defense Position

"As the police were finding Toyah's body, he was arranging... a hurriedly arranged one way trip back to India," the prosecutor said last week as he began arguments.

The defence is has not present any evidence, but in his opening address, the defense attorney Greg McGuire portrayed his client as a "calm" and "caring" man, who was in the "wrong place at the wrong time."

He also hinted at testimony to come later in the trial that, after his arrest, Mr Singh told an undercover officer he had witnessed two masked men assault Ms Cordingley and then had fled in fear – something he said was his "biggest mistake."

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

Further Testimony

Ms Cordingley's boyfriend at the time, Marco Heidenreich, whom authorities quickly ruled out as a person of interest, was one who testified previously.

The trial was informed he was an immediate person of interest – and that he had been interrogated from Ms Cordingley's parent about whether he was implicated in his girlfriend's vanishing, even before her body were found.

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

The case will resume to the standard environment of the courthouse on the next day.

Lori Weiss
Lori Weiss

A passionate writer and storyteller with over a decade of experience in fiction and creative non-fiction.