Late-Night Personalities Take Aim At Trump's Controversial 'Gold Card' Residency Program
-
- By Linda Kelly
- 08 Mar 2026
Members of the jury overseeing a high-profile Queensland murder trial have been taken to the remote beach where the young woman was located.
Toyah Cordingley was multiple times attacked with a bladed weapon and buried in a shallow resting place 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 section of shoreline between the tourist centres of Cairns and Port Douglas.
The accused, 41, has pleaded not guilty to killing Ms Cordingley on a weekend in October 2018 in northern Australia.
The panel of 10 men and two women plus three alternates attended 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 sweltering heat, the judge opted for a T-shirt, sport shorts and sneakers rather than traditional court attire.
Both the lead prosecution and defense attorneys selected casual shirts, shorts and headwear.
The court members were led around 1.2km north up the sand to see where Ms Cordingley's body were uncovered.
Upon arrival, as they arrived by bus, four red and white cones showed where the vehicle had been left.
The visit was intended to help the jurors become familiar with key locations in the trial and no testimony was presented.
Previously, the court was informed that the day after Ms Cordingley's body were found, the accused departed from Australia to India – leaving behind his wife, three children and parents.
He was out of contact until he was apprehended four years later, the state said.
It is alleged that Mr Singh, who was working as a nurse in the town of Innisfail, near Cairns, had a altercation with Ms Cordingley.
The pharmacy worker was discovered wearing a bikini, with her attire and most of her possessions missing.
Those objects were removed by the killer to conceal evidence, the prosecution contend.
Her dog, Indie, which Ms Cordingley had taken to the beach for a walk, was found secured to a post concealed in shrubland about 30 metres from the burial site.
No murder weapon was ever recovered, and no eyewitnesses have been found.
But the state says the crown's case – though circumstantial – was comprised findings that pointed to Mr Singh "and eliminated others."
This will involve evidence that genetic material obtained from a stick at the location was extremely more probable to have originated from Mr Singh than a unrelated individual of the population.
The court has already heard testimony suggesting that Ms Cordingley's mobile device left the scene after the killing – and that its travel matched those of a blue Alfa Romeo belonging to the accused.
Mr Singh's sudden departure from Australia also suggested his guilt, the prosecution has argued.
"As the police were finding Toyah's remains, he was arranging... a hurriedly arranged single journey back to India," Mr Crane said previously as he began arguments.
The defense is has not provided testimony, but in his opening address, Mr Singh's barrister Greg McGuire portrayed his client as a "calm" and "caring" man, who was in the "wrong place at the unfortunate moment."
He also foreshadowed evidence to come subsequently that, after his apprehension, Mr Singh told an plainclothes agent he had witnessed assailants attack 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 other people "identified and unidentified" who should come under investigation.
Ms Cordingley's boyfriend at the time, the witness, whom authorities quickly ruled out as a possible suspect, was one who testified previously.
The trial heard he was an initial person of interest – 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 Mr Heidenreich on a walk with a companion on the date Ms Cordingley disappeared have been presented to the jury, with an expert saying he was confident the pictures were genuine and had not been doctored in any way.
The trial will return to the more conventional setting of the courthouse on the next day.
A tech enthusiast and gaming aficionado with over a decade of experience in digital media and content creation.