Telco forensic experts testify at end of week one in Toyah Cordingley murder trial
What happened to Toyah Cordingley’s phone after she died and forensic analysis of knives taken from Rajwinder Singh’s home were points of emphasis at the end of week one of the Supreme Court murder trial. Full wrap-up of what the jury has heard.
What happened to Toyah Cordingley’s phone after she died and forensic analysis of knives taken from the home of the man charged with her murder, Rajwinder Singh, were points of emphasis at the conclusion to week one of a Supreme Court trial being held in Cairns.
Mr Singh, 41, has pleaded not guilty to the murder of Ms Cordingley on October 21, 2018.
Forensic officer Sergeant Kylie Webster returned to the witness box yesterday morning, the start of day five of the trial.
Sergeant Webster told the jury she collected several knives from Mr Singh’s home for testing.
She was also cross examined about the alleged murder scene, and asked why some samples were sent for testing and others were not, particularly a small patch of blood-soaked sand 50cm from Ms Cordingley’s foot.
Sergeant Webster replied that officers believed the blood was Ms Cordingley’s.
She told the court a patch of “extensive bloodletting” could be seen 8m from where Ms Cordingley’s body was found, but there were no drag marks in the surrounding sand, so it was not clear how her body had been moved.
She also told the jury sand presented particular difficulties for DNA testing because of its “stickiness” and microorganisms.
Toyah Cordingley’s mobile pinged three cell towers south of Wangetti beach the afternoon of her death before it was apparently turned off, the jury heard.
Telstra data security analyst Mark Borg said mobile phones were continually connecting with “the network” whether they were being used or not.
He said Ms Cordingley’s mobile phone connected with towers at Buchan Point, Saddle Mountain and Smithfield between 3pm and 5.17pm on the day she died, with the final record at 5.17pm which was a 16-second connection before the connection was severed.
“The most likely explanation would be that the phone’s off (after 5.18pm),” Mr Borg said.
What happened during week ONE
The jury tasked with determining the fate of the man charged with Ms Cordingley’s murder have been told this is not Rajwinder Singh’s first trial.
On Monday, at the start of the second trial, Mr Singh – a nurse from Innisfail – pleaded not guilty to the murder of the 24-year-old Cairns pharmacy worker.
The trial is expected to run for three weeks.
During week one, the jury has heard Mr Singh’s defence team reference a previous trial, questioning two witnesses about evidence they gave last time.
Presiding Justice Lincoln Crowley warned the jury they were not to do their own research about the case that has “attracted a great deal of publicity in the past” or look up the results of any previous trial.
He said real Australian courts were “not like Netflix”, and told the jury everything they needed to know would be aired and shared and argued in the Cairns Supreme Court this month.
After the jury of 10 men and two women was chosen, Justice Crowley explained the elements of the charge of murder, the concept of beyond a reasonable doubt, and instructed the jury on their responsibilities.
Crown prosecutor Nathan Crane opened the case against Mr Singh on Monday by saying there was a thread of “evasiveness” to it all, starting with efforts to hide Ms Cordingley’s body in a sandy grave in the dunes, and the taking of her things from the beach on the day of her death on October 21, 2018.
He said a final act of evasion was the “hurried one-way ticket to India”, booked by Mr Singh the day Ms Cordingley’s body was found, and the flight he took without telling his wife, three children or parents in Innisfail.
He also spoke about DNA from the murder scene with a high probability of it belonging to Mr Singh, and the path of movement of his car, a blue Alfa Romeo, and Ms Cordingley’s phone, the day she died.
Defence barrister Gregory McGuire addressed the jury next, asking them to consider that Mr Singh may have simply been in the wrong place at the wrong time, and was “caring and softly-spoken” not a “brutal lone killer”.
He said the Crown must disprove other reasonable and rational explanations for the crime, saying there were other possibilities besides Mr Singh, “both known and unknown” in relation to Ms Cordingley’s death.
The case is a circumstantial one.
There are no eyewitnesses to the killing, nor will there be a motive suggested, the court has been told.
Ms Cordingley’s death has been described in court this week as “horrifically violent” and the jury has seen the images from the forensic teams showing she was “almost decapitated”.
The witness list includes Ms Cordingley’s family, friends, investigating police officers, experts in telecommunications and forensics and people who lived in or visited Wangetti Beach.
In week one, her boyfriend Marco Heidenreich talked about his movements the day his girlfriend was killed, saying he went to Spring Creek Falls in Mowbray with a friend and lost his dog during the hike.
He has also spoken about the early police investigation into him when he was a “person of interest”.
Ms Cordingley’s family, her mother, brother and sister have described her final weekend and their contact with her.
They spoke of the pre-dawn search of Wangetti beach after they learned Ms Cordingley’s car was still parked at the beach late at night, after she had gone there to walk her dog Indi that afternoon.
Her father Troy Cordingley described uncovering his daughter’s foot after scraping back the sand of an unnatural mound in the dunes.
As family members have finished giving their evidence they have moved to the back of the courtroom, into the public gallery.
They are given advance warning when forensic evidence like photographs will be presented, and they leave the courtroom.
At least 20 to 30 people have been attending court each day, with police officers and lawyers coming and going, and several members of the public watching every moment of the trial with the jury.
Defendant Rajwinder Singh has been wearing the same blue suit and white turban all week, and often takes notes.
The jury has been communicating almost daily with the judge through their foreperson, asking questions themselves occasionally about the evidence, and requesting that witnesses speak up, or asking for concentration breaks during the day.
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Originally published as Telco forensic experts testify at end of week one in Toyah Cordingley murder trial
