Jurors in the high profile Australian murder trial of Toyah Cordingley visited Wangetti Beach in Far North Queensland, where her body was discovered in 2018. Cordingley, a 24 year old pharmacy worker, had been stabbed multiple times and buried in a shallow grave. Her father found her the following day on the remote stretch of coastline located between Cairns and Port Douglas. Rajwinder Singh, a 41 year old former nurse, has pleaded not guilty to killing Cordingley during what prosecutors allege was a violent confrontation on a Sunday afternoon. To help jurors understand the physical layout of the scene, the court arranged an onsite visit, with the judge, lawyers and the full jury walking 1.2 kilometers along the beach in temperatures above 30 degrees Celsius.
The visit allowed jurors to see where Cordingley’s car had been parked, observe the landscape around the burial site and understand key distances that form part of the prosecution’s circumstantial case. Last week, prosecutors told the Cairns Supreme Court that Singh left Australia for India the day after the body was found, leaving behind his family with no warning. They accuse him of taking Cordingley’s clothing and personal belongings to avoid detection and note that her dog was found tied up in nearby shrubland. No murder weapon or eyewitnesses have been identified, but the prosecution argues that the evidence points directly to Singh. This includes DNA found on a stick at the scene that experts say is billions of times more likely to belong to Singh.
The defence maintains that Singh is innocent and was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time. His barrister claims Singh told an undercover officer he saw masked men attack Cordingley and fled in panic. Defence lawyers also plan to raise the possibility of other potential suspects. The trial continues in court on Tuesday.
