Panel of Jurors in Prominent Down Under Homicide Case Visits Beach Where Victim Was Found

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

Members of the jury involved in a widely publicized Australian homicide case have been taken to the isolated shore where the young woman was located.

Toyah Cordingley was multiple times stabbed with a bladed weapon and buried in a sandy resting place with minimal hope of surviving, the court has heard.

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

Rajwinder Singh, 41, has pleaded not guilty to murdering Ms Cordingley on a Sunday afternoon in October 2018 in northern Australia.

Jury Inspection to Beach

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

In a nod to the tropical conditions and sweltering heat, the judge wore a T-shirt, sport shorts and trainers rather than traditional court attire.

Both the prosecuting and defence barristers chose casual shirts, bottoms and baseball caps.

Scene Particulars

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

Upon arrival, as they arrived by bus, four red and white cones indicated where the vehicle had been left.

The trip was intended to help the panel become acquainted with important sites in the case and no official evidence was presented.

Context of the Case

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

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

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

State Argument

It is claimed that the defendant, who was working as a nurse in the town of Innisfail, near Cairns, had a altercation with Ms Cordingley.

The victim was discovered wearing a swimwear, with all her other clothes and belongings missing.

Those items were removed by the killer to avoid detection, prosecutors allege.

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

No murder weapon was found, and no eyewitnesses have been identified.

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

This will include evidence that genetic material obtained from a stick at the scene was 3.8 billion times more probable to have originated from Mr Singh than a random member of the public.

The jury has previously been told evidence indicating that Ms Cordingley's phone left the scene after the killing – and that its travel corresponded with those of a vehicle owned by the defendant.

Mr Singh's sudden departure from Australia also pointed to his involvement, the prosecution has claimed.

Defence Position

"While authorities were finding Toyah's remains, he was arranging... a rushed single journey back to India," the prosecutor said last week as he opened his case.

The defense is has not present any evidence, but in his opening address, the defense attorney Greg McGuire described his client as a "placid" and "caring" man, who was in the "wrong place at the unfortunate moment."

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

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

Further Evidence

Ms Cordingley's boyfriend at the time, the witness, whom authorities excluded as a possible suspect, was among those who gave evidence 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 involved in his girlfriend's vanishing, even before her remains 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 confident the pictures were authentic and had not been altered in any manner.

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

Brittany Smith
Brittany Smith

Lena is a digital strategist passionate about emerging technologies and their impact on business growth.