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Members of the jury overseeing a high-profile Australian homicide case have traveled to the remote shore where the victim was located.

The 24-year-old victim was multiple times attacked with a sharp object and placed in a shallow resting place with minimal hope of surviving, the court has been told.

Her body were found by a family member the following day on Wangetti Beach – a stretch of shoreline 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.

Court Visit to Beach

The jury of 10 men and two women plus three back-up jurors visited the location along with the judge and barristers on the start of the week local time.

In a nod to the hot climate and temperatures above 30C, Justice Lincoln Crowley wore a T-shirt, athletic wear and sneakers rather than traditional court attire.

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

Scene Particulars

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

Earlier, as they arrived by bus, four red and white cones indicated where the vehicle had been left.

The trip was designed to help the jurors become acquainted with important sites in the trial and no official evidence was given.

Background of the Case

Last week, the Cairns Supreme Court heard that the day after Ms Cordingley's body were found, Mr Singh departed from Australia to India – leaving behind his wife, three children and relatives.

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

Prosecution Argument

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

The victim was discovered wearing a bikini, with all her other clothes and belongings absent.

Those items were removed by the killer to conceal evidence, prosecutors contend.

Her dog, Indie, which Ms Cordingley had brought along for a stroll, was found secured to a post hidden in shrubland about 100 feet from the grave.

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

But the state says the crown's case – though circumstantial – was made up of proof that pointed to Mr Singh "excluding other suspects."

This will involve testimony that genetic material obtained from a object at the scene was extremely more likely to have come from Mr Singh than a unrelated individual of the population.

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

Mr Singh's quick exit from Australia also pointed to his guilt, the prosecution has claimed.

Defence Stance

"As the police were finding Toyah's remains, he was organizing... a hurriedly arranged one way trip back to India," the prosecutor said last week as he opened his case.

The defense is has not provided testimony, but in his opening address, Mr Singh's barrister Greg McGuire described his client as a "calm" and "caring" man, who was in the "wrong place at the unfortunate moment."

He also foreshadowed evidence to come later in the trial that, after his apprehension, Mr Singh informed an undercover officer he had seen two masked men assault Ms Cordingley and then had fled 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 investigation.

Additional Evidence

Ms Cordingley's partner, Marco Heidenreich, whom authorities excluded as a possible suspect, was among those who gave evidence last week.

The trial heard he was an immediate person of interest – and that he had been interrogated from Ms Cordingley's father about whether he was implicated in his partner's disappearance, even before her body were discovered.

Images depicting Mr Heidenreich on a walk with a friend on the date Ms Cordingley disappeared have been shown to the court, with an expert saying he was certain the pictures were genuine and had not been doctored in any way.

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