Panel of Jurors in High-Profile Australian Homicide Case Visits Beach Where Deceased Was Found

Wangetti Beach scene
The remains of Toyah Cordingley was discovered on a remote coastline in Far North Queensland back in 2018.

Jurors involved in a widely publicized Australian murder trial have traveled to the remote shore where the young woman was discovered.

Toyah Cordingley was multiple times attacked with a bladed weapon and buried in a shallow grave with little or no chance of survival, the jury has heard.

Her body were found by her father the next day on Wangetti Beach – a stretch of coastline between the popular destinations of Cairns and Port Douglas.

Rajwinder Singh, 41, denies killing Ms Cordingley on a weekend in October 2018 in northern Australia.

Court Visit to Beach

The jury of 12 individuals plus several alternates attended the beach along with the presiding officer and legal counsel on the start of the week in Queensland.

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

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

Location Details

The court members were guided around three-quarters of a mile along the beach to see where Ms Cordingley's remains were discovered.

Earlier, as they traveled to the site, four red and white cones indicated where the victim's car had been left.

The visit was intended to help the panel become acquainted with important sites in the trial and no official evidence was given.

Background of the Trial

Previously, the court was informed that the following day Ms Cordingley's body were discovered, Mr Singh departed from Australia to India – leaving behind his spouse, family and relatives.

He was not heard from until he was arrested four years later, the state said.

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

State Argument

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 victim was discovered wearing a swimwear, with her attire and belongings missing.

Those items were removed by the assailant to conceal evidence, the prosecution allege.

Her dog, Indie, which Ms Cordingley had taken to the beach for a stroll, was found secured to a tree concealed in bushland about 30 metres from the burial site.

The weapon was found, and no eyewitnesses have been identified.

But the state says the evidence – though circumstantial – was made up of findings that indicated Mr Singh "and eliminated others."

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

The jury has previously been told evidence indicating that Ms Cordingley's phone left the beach after the incident – and that its travel corresponded with those of a blue Alfa Romeo belonging to the accused.

Mr Singh's quick exit from Australia also suggested his involvement, the prosecution has argued.

Defence Position

"While authorities were discovering Toyah's remains, he was arranging... a rushed single journey back to India," Mr Crane said last week as he began arguments.

The defence is has not present any evidence, but in his opening address, the defense attorney the lawyer portrayed his defendant as a "calm" and "compassionate" man, who was in the "wrong place at the unfortunate moment."

He also foreshadowed evidence to come subsequently that, after his apprehension, Mr Singh told an undercover officer he had witnessed two masked men attack Ms Cordingley and then had fled in terror – something he said was his "gravest error."

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

Further Testimony

Ms Cordingley's boyfriend at the time, the witness, whom authorities excluded as a possible suspect, was among those who gave evidence last week.

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

Photographs showing Mr Heidenreich on a walk with a friend on the date Ms Cordingley disappeared have been shown to the jury, with an specialist saying he was confident the photos were authentic and had not been altered in any manner.

The trial will resume to the standard environment of the courtroom on Tuesday.

Angela Munoz
Angela Munoz

A passionate gamer and tech writer with over a decade of experience covering esports and game development trends.