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Jurors overseeing a high-profile Australian homicide case have traveled to the isolated beach where the young woman was discovered.

Toyah Cordingley was repeatedly attacked with a bladed weapon and buried in a shallow resting place with minimal hope of surviving, the court has been told.

The remains were discovered by a family member the next day on Wangetti Beach – a stretch of coastline between the popular destinations 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.

Jury Visit to Beach

The jury of 12 individuals plus three alternates visited the beach along with the presiding officer and legal counsel on the start of the week local time.

In a nod to the tropical conditions and sweltering heat, Justice Lincoln Crowley wore a T-shirt, sport shorts and sneakers rather than a wig and robes.

Both the lead prosecution and defense attorneys selected casual shirts, shorts and headwear.

Scene Details

The jurors were led around three-quarters of a mile along the beach to see where Ms Cordingley's body were uncovered.

Upon arrival, as they arrived by bus, several markers showed where the vehicle had been left.

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

Background of the Case

Last week, the court was informed that the day after Ms Cordingley's body were found, Mr Singh flew from Australia to India – abandoning his wife, family and parents.

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

State Argument

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 swimwear, with all her other clothes and most of her possessions absent.

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

Her pet, Indie, which Ms Cordingley had taken to the beach for a walk, was found secured to a tree hidden in shrubland about 100 feet from the grave.

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

But the state says the evidence – though indirect – was made up of proof that indicated Mr Singh "excluding other suspects."

This will include testimony that genetic material obtained from a stick at the location was 3.8 billion times more probable to have come from Mr Singh than a random member of the public.

The court has previously been told evidence indicating that Ms Cordingley's mobile device departed the beach after the incident – and that its travel matched those of a blue Alfa Romeo owned by the defendant.

Mr Singh's sudden departure from Australia also suggested his involvement, the prosecution has argued.

Defense Position

"As the police were discovering Toyah's body, he was arranging... a rushed one way trip back to India," the prosecutor said last week as he began arguments.

The defense is yet to present any evidence, but in his opening address, Mr Singh's barrister the lawyer portrayed his defendant as a "placid" and "compassionate" man, who was in the "wrong place at the unfortunate moment."

He also hinted at evidence to come subsequently that, after his apprehension, Mr Singh told an undercover officer he had witnessed assailants assault Ms Cordingley and then had run away in terror – something he said was his "biggest mistake."

The defense attorney has also said he will give evidence about other people "identified and unidentified" who should come under suspicion.

Further Evidence

Ms Cordingley's partner, Marco Heidenreich, whom authorities excluded as a person of interest, was among those who testified last week.

The court was informed he was an initial person of interest – and that he had been interrogated from Ms Cordingley's father about whether he was involved in his girlfriend's vanishing, prior to her body were found.

Images showing Mr Heidenreich on a walk with a friend on the date Ms Cordingley went missing have been shown to the court, with an expert saying he was confident 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.