🔗 Share this article Jury in High-Profile Down Under Murder Case Tours Beach At Which Victim Was Discovered The remains of Toyah Cordingley was discovered on a secluded coastline in Far North Queensland in 2018. Members of the jury involved in a widely publicized Queensland murder trial have been taken to the isolated shore where the young woman was located. The 24-year-old victim was repeatedly stabbed with a bladed weapon and buried in a sandy grave with minimal chance of survival, the court has been told. The remains were found by a family member the next day on Wangetti Beach – a stretch of shoreline between the tourist centres of Cairns and Port Douglas. The accused, 41, has pleaded not guilty to killing Ms Cordingley on a Sunday afternoon in October 2018 in northern Australia. Jury Visit to Beach The panel of 12 individuals plus several back-up jurors visited the location along with the presiding officer and legal counsel on Monday morning local time. In a nod to the tropical conditions and temperatures above 30C, Justice Lincoln Crowley opted for a T-shirt, athletic wear and trainers rather than a wig and robes. Both the lead prosecution and defense attorneys selected polo shirts, shorts and baseball caps. Scene Details The jurors were guided around 1.2km along the beach to observe where Ms Cordingley's body were discovered. Upon arrival, as they arrived by bus, several red and white cones indicated where the victim's car had been parked. The visit was designed to help the panel become familiar with important sites in the trial and no official evidence was given. Background of the Case Last week, the court heard that the following day Ms Cordingley's remains were found, Mr Singh departed from Australia to India – abandoning his wife, three children and relatives. He was not heard from until he was apprehended four years later, the state said. The judge with legal representatives and other personnel at Wangetti Beach. Prosecution Argument It is claimed that Mr Singh, who was employed in healthcare in the community of Innisfail, near Cairns, had a altercation with Ms Cordingley. The victim was discovered wearing a bikini, with all her other clothes and most of her possessions absent. Those items were removed by the assailant to avoid detection, prosecutors allege. Her dog, Indie, which Ms Cordingley had brought along for a stroll, was located secured to a post hidden in shrubland about 30 metres from the burial site. The weapon was ever recovered, and no one have been found. But the prosecution says the crown's case – though indirect – was made up of findings that indicated Mr Singh "and eliminated others." This will involve testimony that DNA obtained from a stick at the scene was 3.8 billion times more likely to have originated from Mr Singh than a random member of the public. The court has already heard testimony suggesting that Ms Cordingley's phone left the scene after the killing – and that its movements corresponded with those of a vehicle owned by the accused. Mr Singh's quick exit from Australia also pointed to his guilt, the state has argued. Defense Position "As the police were finding Toyah's body, he was organizing... a rushed single journey back to India," the prosecutor said last week as he began arguments. The defence is yet to present any evidence, but in his initial statement, the defense attorney Greg McGuire portrayed his client as a "calm" and "caring" man, who was in the "wrong place at the unfortunate moment." He also hinted at evidence to come later in the trial that, after his arrest, Mr Singh told an undercover officer he had seen assailants assault Ms Cordingley and then had fled in fear – something he said was his "biggest mistake." Mr McGuire has also said he will give evidence about other people "identified and unidentified" who should come under investigation. Additional Evidence Ms Cordingley's boyfriend at the time, the witness, whom authorities quickly ruled out as a person of interest, was one who gave evidence previously. The court heard he was an immediate police suspect – and that he had faced questions from Ms Cordingley's father about whether he was implicated in his girlfriend's vanishing, even before her remains were discovered. Images showing the witness on a walk with a friend on the date Ms Cordingley went missing have been shown to the court, with an specialist saying he was certain the pictures were genuine and had not been doctored in any way. The trial will resume to the more conventional setting of the courtroom on Tuesday.