Rajwinder Singh on trial for murder of Toyah Cordingley: Every moment from Week 1
The final movements of Toyah Cordingley before her death and those of the man suspected of killing her were revealed during the first week of Rajwinder Singh’s murder trial. See the timeline.
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The final movements of Toyah Cordingley before her death and those of the man suspected of killing her were revealed during the first week of Rajwinder Singh’s murder trial.
The crown has been building its circumstantial case to prove that Mr Singh, 40, killed Ms Cordingley, 24, while the defence introduced alternative suspects including her boyfriend.
Mr Singh was charged with the murder of pharmacist worker Ms Cordingley on October 21 2018 at Wangetti Beach, north of Cairns.
He has pleaded not guilty.
Opening addresses
Crown prosecutor Nathan Crane said the crown’s case would rely on evidence that shows Mr Singh’s movements to and from Wangetti Beach the day of the alleged murder, and cell phone data from Ms Cordingley’s phone coinciding with Mr Singh’s movements after her death.
Mr Crane said DNA evidence would also place Mr Singh at the scene.
Mr Crane also told the court Mr Singh’s “flight” from Australia to India, leaving his family and life behind, was also a sign of guilt.
He told the jury that motive would not be an element in this trial.
Meanwhile, Mr Singh’s lead defence counsel Angus Edwards KC has cast doubt on whether Mr Singh killed Ms Cordingley, saying there were “several possibilities”.
Mr Edwards said there was no doubt Ms Cordingley was murdered but introduced several alternatives including Ms Cordingley’s long-term partner Marco Heidenreich.
Toyah’s final hours
The first week’s witness evidence included the timelines of several people in the trial including Ms Cordingley herself, the movements of her boyfriend Mr Heidenreich, her friends and family after she was reported missing as well as the movements of a blue Alfa Romeo vehicle which police say was driven and owned by Mr Singh.
The jury was played CCTV footage captured by Traffic and Main Roads and businesses capturing Ms Cordingley and her metallic blue Mitsubishi travelling through Cairns on the day of her death.
Footage captured Ms Cordingley wearing a light-coloured crochet singlet top, blue shorts, and carrying a large striped bag, travelling to Rusty’s market where she bought groceries before driving to Wangetti Beach arriving around 2pm.
The court heard at 3.17pm Ms Cordingley sent a text message to Mr Heidenreich telling him she was going to pick up her friend at the Cairns Airport later that day.
Mr Heidenreich told the court he did not see that message until later that night when he found Ms Cordingley’s car still at Wangetti Beach after being unable to contact her.
CCTV footage played to the jury from the Cairns Airport showed a man named Tyson Bryan Anthony Franklin arriving in Cairns before taking an Uber after Ms Cordingley did not arrive to pick him up.
Marco’s hike
Mr Heidenreich told the court on the day of Ms Cordingley’s death he went on a hike north of Wangetti with his friend Joel Cuman.
The jury was shown footage of Mr Heidenreich’s trip north from Cairns to Port Douglas where he stopped at a petrol station and the bottle shop at the Courthouse Hotel in Port Douglas.
On the way up Mr Heidenreich said he saw Ms Cordingley’s car at Wangetti but decided not to stop.
Mr Heidenreich then travelled to Mr Cuman’s house to pick him up before the pair went to the Spring Creek walking trail near Mowbray.
Photos were produced as evidence taken from Mr Cuman’s phone showing the pair’s hiking trip.
During cross-examination the defence asked Mr Heidenreich and Mr Cuman if they knew how to change photo metadata including dates and times with Mr Heidenreich denying that claim.
However, Mr Cuman said he did know how to change metadata and had done so before but denied he had changed metadata on the hike photos.
During their evidence both men told the court near the end of the trail on the return to Mr Heidenreich’s car the pair lost Mr Heidenreich’s dog.
They each told the court they searched for around 20-30 minutes before it got too dark and they travelled to friend Monique Steele and Toby Petrack’s homes to get torches.
Ms Steele told the court, Mr Cuman arrived at her home around 7pm to pick up a torch but said she did not see Mr Heidenreich.
Mr Heidenreich said he remained in the car.
She told the court Mr Heidenreich’s dog was found a couple of days later by walkers as the friends and Mr Heidenreich continued the search.
Mr Petrack said the pair came to his home where he showed them some renovations before they left.
The court heard they searched for around another half an hour before Mr Heidenreich took Mr Cuman home and returned to Mr Petrack's home.
Mr Petrack told the court the pair had a beer each and said Mr Heidenreich was “upset and frazzled” as he hadn’t heard from Ms Cordingley all afternoon.
Mr Heidenreich said he then left Mr Petrack’s home but stopped at Wangetti after he saw Toyah’s car still at the beach.
Mr Petrack said he received a call later on from Mr Heidenreich, who said he was at Wangetti and had found Ms Cordingley’s car there, unlocked.
“I was trying to keep him calm,” he said.
Mr Heidenreich called police around 11pm to alert them of Ms Cordingley’s disappearance.
Mr Cuman, along with Mr Petrack and his brother Max Petrack all gave evidence saying they travelled to Wangetti and searched the beach for a short time with Mr Heidenreich before police officers instructed them to go home.
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Desperate search
Ms Cordingley’s parents outlined their movements after Mr Heidenreich told them their daughter was missing in the late hours of October 21.
Her mother Vanessa Gardiner said her and her son Jack travelled to Mr Heidenreich’s home before they picked up Toyah’s father Troy Cordingley and went to Wangetti beach.
She told the court they waited at a park bench for three hours before there was enough light to search.
Ms Gardiner said when they were searching the beach, she found Toyah’s dog Indie tied to a tree and attempted to untie the dog.
Mr Heidenreich told the court he returned to the beach before Ms Cordingley’s body was found.
Mr Cordingley told the court about the moment he found his daughter buried in the sand.
Mr Cordingley said he noticed the mound at the top of the beach in an area cut into the sand dune surrounded by a number of logs.
“I only touched three scoops of sand and my daughter’s foot,” he said.
“I reeled back, I was horrified. I was yelling ‘Help me, help me’.
“I was shocked.”
Mr Cordingley said he went immediately back to the carpark.
The blue Alfa and Mr Singh’s flight
In the prosecution’s opening address Mr Crane provided visualisations of mobile phone data from three cell towers which he argued connects Ms Cordingley to Mr Singh.
Mr Crane told the jury the data corresponded with a vehicle’s movement south from Wangetti Beach between 4.51pm and 5.17pm.
Mr Crane then showed the jury road traffic camera footage tracking a blue Alfa Romeo on a journey south, which the crown said followed the journey of Toyah’s phone.
“Mr Singh owned a blue Alfa Romeo,” he said.
Mr Crane also told the jury Mr Singh’s phone data was collected and showed information consistent with the handset moving north through Cairns to the Smithfield area.
No further connections from Mr Singh’s phone were recorded until later on the night of Ms Cordingley’s death, Mr Crane said.
Mr Crane detailed Mr Singh’s “flight” after the death of Ms Cordingley.
Mr Singh lived in Innisfail with his wife and children as well as his parents at the time, the court was told.
The jury heard Mr Singh’s wife Sukhdeep Kaur reported him missing to police after he was last seen the morning after Ms Cordingley died.
Mr Crane told the court Mr Singh was taken to Cairns Airport by a work colleague telling him he was visiting his sister in Sydney.
Mr Singh flew to Sydney where he arrived at his sister’s at 10.30pm. The next day he flew to New Delhi in India.
The court heard the flights were booked by Mr Singh at 11.05am on Monday.
He was not seen again until November 25, 2022 when he was captured by police and returned to Australia.
Originally published as Rajwinder Singh on trial for murder of Toyah Cordingley: Every moment from Week 1
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