🔗 Share this article

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

Toyah Cordingley was multiple times stabbed with a bladed weapon and buried in a sandy grave with minimal chance of survival, the court has heard.

Her body were discovered by a family member 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 Beach

The panel of 12 individuals plus three alternates attended the beach along with the presiding officer and legal counsel on Monday morning in Queensland.

In a nod to the hot climate and sweltering heat, 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, bottoms and headwear.

Scene Particulars

The jurors were led around three-quarters of a mile north up the sand to observe where Ms Cordingley's body were discovered.

Earlier, as they traveled to the site, several markers indicated where the vehicle had been parked.

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

Context of the Case

Previously, the court was informed that the following day Ms Cordingley's body were discovered, Mr Singh departed from Australia to India – abandoning his spouse, three children and parents.

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

Prosecution Argument

It is alleged that the defendant, who was employed in healthcare in the town of Innisfail, near Cairns, had a altercation with Ms Cordingley.

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

Those items were taken by the assailant to avoid detection, prosecutors allege.

Her dog, Indie, which Ms Cordingley had brought along for a stroll, was located tied up to a post hidden in bushland about 100 feet from the grave.

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

But the state says the evidence – though indirect – was made up of findings that indicated Mr Singh "excluding other suspects."

This will involve evidence that genetic material recovered from a object at the location was 3.8 billion times more likely to have originated from Mr Singh than a random member of the population.

The jury has previously been told testimony indicating that Ms Cordingley's phone departed the beach after the incident – and that its travel corresponded with those of a vehicle belonging to the defendant.

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

Defense Stance

"While authorities were finding Toyah's remains, he was arranging... a hurriedly arranged single journey back to India," Mr Crane said last week as he opened his case.

The defense is yet to present any evidence, but in his opening address, Mr Singh's barrister Greg McGuire portrayed his client as a "placid" and "caring" man, who was in the "wrong place at the wrong time."

He also foreshadowed evidence to come subsequently that, after his arrest, Mr Singh told an plainclothes agent he had seen two masked men attack Ms Cordingley and then had fled in fear – something he said was his "gravest error."

Mr McGuire has also said he will give evidence about individuals "identified and unidentified" who should come under suspicion.

Additional Evidence

Ms Cordingley's partner, the witness, whom police excluded as a person of interest, was one who gave evidence previously.

The court heard 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 disappearance, prior to her remains were discovered.

Photographs depicting Mr Heidenreich on a hike with a companion on the date Ms Cordingley went missing have been shown to the court, with an expert saying he was confident the pictures were authentic and had not been doctored in any manner.

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