🔗 Share this article

Members of the jury overseeing a widely publicized Queensland murder trial have been taken to the remote shore where the young woman was located.

Toyah Cordingley was repeatedly attacked with a bladed weapon and buried in a shallow grave with little or no hope of surviving, the court has been told.

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

The accused, 41, has pleaded not guilty to murdering Ms Cordingley on a weekend in October 2018 in Far North Queensland.

Court Visit to Crime Scene

The panel of 12 individuals plus several alternates attended the beach along with the judge and barristers on the start of the week in Queensland.

In a nod to the tropical conditions and sweltering heat, Justice Lincoln Crowley opted for a T-shirt, sport shorts and sneakers rather than traditional court attire.

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

Scene Particulars

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

Upon arrival, as they traveled to the site, several red and white cones showed where the vehicle had been parked.

The visit was designed to help the jurors become acquainted with key locations in the case and no official evidence was presented.

Context of the Trial

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

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

Prosecution Case

It is alleged that the defendant, who was employed in healthcare in the community of Innisfail, south of Cairns, had a confrontation with Ms Cordingley.

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

Those items were removed by the assailant to conceal evidence, prosecutors contend.

Her dog, Indie, which Ms Cordingley had brought along for a walk, was located tied up to a post hidden in bushland about 30 metres from the grave.

No murder weapon was ever recovered, and no one 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 DNA recovered from a object at the location was extremely more likely to have originated from Mr Singh than a random member of the population.

The court has previously been told evidence suggesting that Ms Cordingley's phone departed the scene after the killing – and that its movements matched those of a blue Alfa Romeo owned by the defendant.

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

Defense Position

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

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

He also foreshadowed testimony to come subsequently that, after his arrest, Mr Singh told an plainclothes agent he had witnessed assailants assault Ms Cordingley and then had fled in terror – 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 suspicion.

Additional Evidence

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

The trial heard he was an initial police suspect – and that he had been interrogated from Ms Cordingley's father about whether he was involved in his partner's vanishing, prior to her body were discovered.

Images showing Mr Heidenreich on a hike with a companion on the day Ms Cordingley disappeared have been presented to the jury, with an specialist saying he was certain 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.