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Jurors overseeing a widely publicized Australian homicide case have been taken to the remote shore where the young woman was located.

The 24-year-old victim was repeatedly stabbed with a bladed weapon and placed in a shallow grave with minimal hope of surviving, the jury has been told.

Her body were discovered by a family member the next day on Wangetti Beach – a section of coastline between the popular destinations 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.

Jury Visit to Beach

The panel of 12 individuals plus three alternates attended the location along with the judge and barristers on Monday morning in Queensland.

In a acknowledgment of the hot climate and temperatures above 30C, Justice Lincoln Crowley opted for a casual top, sport shorts and sneakers rather than a wig and robes.

Both the prosecuting and defence barristers chose casual shirts, shorts and headwear.

Scene Details

The jurors were led around three-quarters of a mile north up the sand to observe where Ms Cordingley's remains were uncovered.

Upon arrival, as they arrived by bus, several red and white cones showed where the vehicle had been parked.

The visit was intended to help the panel become acquainted with key locations in the case and no official evidence was given.

Context of the Case

Last week, the Cairns Supreme Court was informed that the day after Ms Cordingley's remains were discovered, the accused departed from Australia to India – abandoning his spouse, three children and relatives.

He was not heard from until he was arrested years after, the prosecution said.

Prosecution Case

It is alleged that Mr Singh, who was employed in healthcare in the community of Innisfail, near Cairns, had a confrontation with Ms Cordingley.

The pharmacy worker was found wearing a swimwear, with her attire and belongings missing.

Those items were removed by the assailant to avoid detection, the prosecution allege.

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

The weapon was found, and no eyewitnesses have been found.

But the state says the evidence – though circumstantial – was made up of proof that pointed to Mr Singh "and eliminated others."

This will involve evidence that DNA obtained from a object at the location was extremely more probable to have come from Mr Singh than a unrelated individual of the population.

The jury has already heard evidence indicating that Ms Cordingley's phone left the beach after the incident – and that its movements matched those of a blue Alfa Romeo belonging to the defendant.

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

Defence Position

"As the police were discovering Toyah's remains, he was arranging... a rushed single journey back to India," the prosecutor said previously as he opened his case.

The defence is has not present any evidence, but in his initial statement, the defense attorney the lawyer portrayed his client as a "calm" and "caring" man, who was in the "wrong place at the wrong time."

He also hinted at evidence to come later in the trial that, after his apprehension, Mr Singh informed an plainclothes agent he had witnessed two masked men attack Ms Cordingley and then had run away in fear – something he said was his "biggest mistake."

Mr McGuire has also said he will testify about individuals "both known and unknown" who should come under suspicion.

Further Testimony

Ms Cordingley's boyfriend at the time, the witness, whom police quickly ruled out as a possible suspect, was one who testified last week.

The trial heard he was an immediate police suspect – and that he had been interrogated from Ms Cordingley's parent about whether he was involved in his girlfriend's disappearance, prior to her body were discovered.

Photographs depicting Mr Heidenreich on a hike with a companion on the date Ms Cordingley disappeared have been shown to the jury, with an expert saying he was certain the pictures were authentic and had not been altered in any manner.

The trial will resume to the more conventional setting of the courthouse on Tuesday.