🔗 Share this article

Jurors involved in a high-profile Australian homicide case have been taken to the remote beach where the victim was located.

The 24-year-old victim was repeatedly stabbed with a sharp object and placed in a shallow grave with little or no chance of survival, the jury has been told.

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

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

Jury Visit to Crime Scene

The panel of 12 individuals plus three back-up jurors attended the location along with the presiding officer and legal counsel on the start of the week local time.

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

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

Location Details

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

Upon arrival, as they arrived by bus, several red and white cones indicated where the victim's car had been left.

The visit was intended to help the jurors become familiar with key locations in the trial and no testimony was given.

Background of the Case

Last week, the Cairns Supreme Court was informed that the day after Ms Cordingley's body were found, the accused departed from Australia to India – leaving behind his wife, family and parents.

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

Prosecution Case

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

The victim was discovered wearing a swimwear, with all her other clothes and most of her possessions absent.

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

Her pet, Indie, which Ms Cordingley had taken to the beach for a walk, was found secured to a tree hidden in shrubland about 30 metres from the grave.

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

But the state says the crown's case – though indirect – was comprised findings that pointed to Mr Singh "excluding other suspects."

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

The court has previously been told testimony suggesting that Ms Cordingley's phone departed the scene after the incident – and that its movements matched those of a blue Alfa Romeo belonging to the accused.

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

Defense Stance

"While authorities were discovering Toyah's remains, he was organizing... a rushed one way trip back to India," Mr Crane said previously as he began arguments.

The defense is has not present any evidence, but in his opening address, Mr Singh's barrister the lawyer portrayed his client as a "placid" and "caring" man, who was in the "incorrect location at the unfortunate moment."

He also hinted at evidence to come later in the trial that, after his arrest, Mr Singh informed an undercover officer he had witnessed assailants attack 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 individuals "identified and unidentified" who should come under investigation.

Further Evidence

Ms Cordingley's partner, the witness, whom authorities excluded as a possible suspect, was among those who testified previously.

The trial heard he was an initial police suspect – and that he had faced questions from Ms Cordingley's father about whether he was implicated in his girlfriend's vanishing, prior to her remains were discovered.

Images showing the witness on a hike with a friend on the day Ms Cordingley went missing have been shown to the jury, with an expert saying he was confident the pictures were authentic and had not been altered in any way.

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