Panel of Jurors in High-Profile Down Under Murder Trial Tours Shoreline Where Deceased Was Discovered

Wangetti Beach scene
The remains of Toyah Cordingley was discovered on a secluded coastline in northern Queensland back in 2018.

Jurors overseeing a high-profile Queensland murder trial have traveled to the isolated beach where the young woman was discovered.

The 24-year-old victim was multiple times stabbed with a bladed weapon and placed in a shallow resting place with little or no hope of surviving, the jury has heard.

Her body were found by a family member the following day on Wangetti Beach – a section of shoreline between the tourist centres of Cairns and Port Douglas.

Rajwinder Singh, 41, denies murdering Ms Cordingley on a weekend in October 2018 in Far North Queensland.

Court Inspection to Beach

The panel of 12 individuals plus several alternates visited the beach along with the presiding officer and legal counsel on the start of the week local time.

In a acknowledgment of the tropical conditions and temperatures above 30C, the judge wore a casual top, sport shorts and trainers rather than a wig and robes.

Both the lead prosecution and defense attorneys chose casual shirts, shorts and headwear.

Scene Particulars

The jurors were guided around three-quarters of a mile north up the sand to see where Ms Cordingley's body were uncovered.

Earlier, as they arrived by bus, several markers indicated where the vehicle had been parked.

The visit was designed to help the jurors become familiar with important sites in the trial and no testimony was given.

Context of the Trial

Last week, the court heard that the day after Ms Cordingley's remains were discovered, the accused departed from Australia to India – leaving behind his spouse, family and parents.

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

Court officials at the beach
The judge with barristers and other personnel at Wangetti Beach.

Prosecution Case

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

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

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

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

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

But the state says the crown's case – though circumstantial – was comprised proof that indicated Mr Singh "excluding other suspects."

This will include testimony that genetic material obtained from a object at the scene was 3.8 billion times more likely to have come from Mr Singh than a random member of the public.

The court has already heard testimony suggesting that Ms Cordingley's phone departed the scene after the incident – and that its movements matched those of a vehicle belonging to the defendant.

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

Defense Position

"While authorities were finding Toyah's remains, he was organizing... a rushed single journey back to India," Mr Crane said previously as he opened his case.

The defence is has not present any evidence, but in his opening address, Mr Singh's barrister Greg McGuire portrayed his client as a "placid" and "compassionate" man, who was in the "incorrect location at the wrong time."

He also hinted at testimony to come subsequently that, after his apprehension, Mr Singh told an undercover officer he had seen two masked men assault 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 other people "identified and unidentified" who should come under suspicion.

Additional Testimony

Ms Cordingley's partner, the witness, whom police quickly ruled out as a person of interest, was among those who testified last week.

The trial was informed he was an immediate person of interest – and that he had faced questions from Ms Cordingley's parent about whether he was involved in his girlfriend's vanishing, even before her remains were discovered.

Photographs depicting the witness on a walk with a friend on the day Ms Cordingley disappeared have been shown to the court, with an specialist saying he was confident the pictures were authentic and had not been altered in any manner.

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

Darin Fleming MD
Darin Fleming MD

An avid hiker and travel writer with over a decade of experience exploring remote wilderness areas and sharing practical insights for adventurers.