‘Incompatible with life’: Stunned courtroom shown Toyah Cordingley catastrophic injuries
The father of a 24-year-old woman who was allegedly murdered has told a court of the horrific moment he found her body buried in the sand at a beach.
A shocked courtroom has been shown the horrific image of the “cutting wound” to the front of 24-year-old Toyah Cordingley’s neck that likely ended her life.
Rajwinder Singh, 39, has pleaded not guilty to murdering Ms Cordingley, 24, at Wangetti Beach in Far North Queensland on October 21, 2018.
Forensic Pathologist Dr Paul Botterill conducted the autopsy on Ms Cordingley’s body and told the court that the main injury to Ms Cordingley was a “cutting wound to the front of the neck”.
A photograph of the ghastly injury showed a devastating, deep cut across Ms Cordingley’s throat which severed her windpipe completely as well as major veins and arteries.
Dr Botterill said the wound “would not have resulted in her immediate death”.
He said the wound would have caused extensive bleeding, including into the windpipe and was “incompatible with life”.
Ms Cordingley also had a number of penetrating stab wounds to her torso on her left hand side and her breast.
One of these stab wounds entered Ms Cordingley’s heart which was also life-threatening.
Stab wounds also extended to the left lung and kidney damaging the organ tissue.
Ms Cordingley also suffered “cutting wounds” to her hands “typical of defensive wounds” compatible with grabbing at or trying to push away a blade.
Ms Cordingley also had a stab wound to her left thigh, another penetrating wound over the right thigh, and several abrasions across her body.
Dr Botterill said there was no physical evidence of sexual trauma.
Dr Botterill said that determining a time of death was difficult due to the temperatures in the tropics and could only be narrowed down forensically between the last time she was seen and when her body was found.
A police officer who took part in the search for Toyah Cordingley told the court how he leant down and touched his hand to Ms Cordingley’s foot after her body was found to make sure she wasn’t “just badly injured.”
Body-worn footage captured by the device of Senior Constable Dale Jeppsen was played in the courtroom.
The footage showed Mr Jeppsen walking along the beach, with a helicopter overhead, towards the area of the mound before he appears to lean down.
Mr Jeppsen said he leant down and touched the back of his hand to Ms Cordingley’s toes to “determine that she wasn’t just badly injured”.
“I wanted to check for movement and temperature with my hand.”
Mr Jeppsen also said when he arrived on the beach Ms Cordingley’s boyfriend Marco Heidenreich appeared “despondent, overwhelmed and emotional”.
‘Horrified’ father speaks
Ms Cordingley’s father Troy told the court how he reeled back, “horrified” after he dug into an unusual looking mound on Wangetti Beach on the morning of October 22, 2018, uncovering the foot of his daughter.
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 dropped down on my knees and after three scoops of sand there was a foot,” he said.
Mr Cordingley said he didn’t touch anything else around the scene.
“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.
“I just needed to get off the beach after that,” he said.
The court is now adjourned until 10am Thursday.