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Jurors overseeing a widely publicized Australian murder trial have traveled to the isolated beach where the victim was discovered.

The 24-year-old victim was repeatedly stabbed with a bladed weapon and placed in a shallow grave with minimal chance of survival, the jury has heard.

Her body were found by her father the next day on Wangetti Beach – a section of coastline nestled between the tourist centres of Cairns and Port Douglas.

Rajwinder Singh, 41, has pleaded not guilty to killing Ms Cordingley on a weekend in October 2018 in Far North Queensland.

Court Visit to Crime Scene

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

In a acknowledgment of the hot climate 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 selected polo shirts, shorts and baseball caps.

Scene Particulars

The jurors were led around three-quarters of a mile along the beach to observe where Ms Cordingley's remains were discovered.

Upon arrival, as they arrived by bus, several markers indicated where the victim's car had been left.

The trip was designed to help the jurors become familiar with key locations in the trial and no official evidence was presented.

Context of the Case

Previously, the court heard that the day after Ms Cordingley's body were discovered, Mr Singh flew from Australia to India – abandoning his wife, three children and parents.

He was out of contact until he was apprehended four years later, the prosecution said.

State Case

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

The pharmacy worker was discovered wearing a bikini, with all her other clothes and most of her possessions absent.

Those objects were taken by the killer to avoid detection, the prosecution contend.

Her pet, Indie, which Ms Cordingley had brought along for a stroll, was found tied up to a tree hidden in bushland about 100 feet from the burial site.

The weapon was ever recovered, and no one have been identified.

But the state says the crown's case – though indirect – was comprised findings that indicated Mr Singh "and eliminated others."

This will include testimony that DNA recovered from a stick at the location was 3.8 billion times more probable to have come from Mr Singh than a unrelated individual of the public.

The court has already heard testimony indicating that Ms Cordingley's phone departed the beach after the incident – and that its travel corresponded with those of a vehicle owned by the accused.

Mr Singh's quick exit from Australia also suggested his guilt, the state has claimed.

Defense Stance

"While authorities were discovering Toyah's body, he was organizing... a hurriedly arranged one way trip back to India," Mr Crane said last week as he opened his case.

The defence is has not provided testimony, but in his opening address, Mr Singh's barrister the lawyer portrayed his defendant as a "placid" and "compassionate" man, who was in the "incorrect location at the wrong time."

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

Mr McGuire has also said he will testify about other people "identified and unidentified" who should come under suspicion.

Further Testimony

Ms Cordingley's partner, Marco Heidenreich, whom police 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 parent about whether he was implicated in his girlfriend's vanishing, prior to her body were discovered.

Photographs showing the witness on a hike with a friend on the date Ms Cordingley disappeared have been shown to the jury, with an expert saying he was confident the photos were authentic and had not been doctored in any manner.

The case will resume to the standard environment of the courthouse on the next day.