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Members of the jury involved in a widely publicized Australian murder trial have been taken to the remote beach where the young woman was located.

The 24-year-old victim was repeatedly attacked with a sharp object and placed in a sandy grave with little or no chance of survival, the court has heard.

The remains were discovered by her father the next day on Wangetti Beach – a section of shoreline nestled between the tourist centres of Cairns and Port Douglas.

Rajwinder Singh, 41, denies murdering Ms Cordingley on a Sunday afternoon in October 2018 in northern Australia.

Court Inspection to Crime Scene

The jury of 10 men and two women plus three back-up jurors visited the location along with the presiding officer and legal counsel on the start of the week in Queensland.

In a nod to the tropical conditions and sweltering heat, Justice Lincoln Crowley opted for a T-shirt, athletic wear and sneakers rather than traditional court attire.

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

Scene Particulars

The jurors were guided around 1.2km north up the sand to observe where Ms Cordingley's remains were uncovered.

Earlier, as they traveled to the site, several red and white cones indicated where the vehicle had been left.

The trip was designed to help the panel become acquainted with key locations in the case and no testimony was given.

Background of the Case

Last week, the Cairns Supreme Court heard that the day after Ms Cordingley's remains were found, Mr Singh flew from Australia to India – abandoning his spouse, three children and relatives.

He was not heard from until he was apprehended four years later, the prosecution said.

State Case

It is alleged that Mr Singh, who was working as a nurse in the community of Innisfail, south of Cairns, had a confrontation with Ms Cordingley.

The victim was found wearing a swimwear, with all her other clothes and belongings absent.

Those objects were taken by the assailant to conceal evidence, the prosecution allege.

Her pet, Indie, which Ms Cordingley had brought along for a stroll, was located secured to a tree hidden in shrubland about 30 metres from the grave.

No murder weapon was ever recovered, and no eyewitnesses have been found.

But the prosecution says the evidence – though circumstantial – was made up of findings that pointed to Mr Singh "excluding other suspects."

This will include testimony that DNA obtained from a object at the location was 3.8 billion times more likely to have originated from Mr Singh than a unrelated individual of the population.

The court has already heard testimony indicating that Ms Cordingley's mobile device departed the beach after the killing – and that its travel corresponded with those of a blue Alfa Romeo belonging to the accused.

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

Defence Position

"As the police were finding Toyah's body, he was organizing... a rushed one way trip back to India," Mr Crane said last week as he opened his case.

The defense is yet to provided testimony, but in his opening address, Mr Singh's barrister Greg McGuire portrayed his defendant as a "placid" and "caring" man, who was in the "wrong place at the wrong time."

He also hinted at testimony to come subsequently that, after his apprehension, Mr Singh told an plainclothes agent he had seen assailants attack Ms Cordingley and then had run away in fear – something he said was his "biggest mistake."

The defense attorney has also said he will give evidence about individuals "both known and unknown" who should come under investigation.

Further Evidence

Ms Cordingley's partner, the witness, whom police quickly ruled out as a possible suspect, was among those who testified last week.

The court heard he was an initial police suspect – and that he had been interrogated from Ms Cordingley's father about whether he was implicated in his girlfriend's vanishing, even before her remains were found.

Images depicting the witness on a hike with a friend on the date Ms Cordingley went missing have been shown to the jury, with an expert saying he was certain the photos were authentic and had not been doctored in any way.

The case will return to the more conventional setting of the courthouse on the next day.