How jury in Toyah Cordingley murder trial became ‘deadlocked’
The man charged with murdering a 24-year-old woman on a Queensland beach will face the prospect of a retrial after the jury was unable to reach a unanimous verdict.
The man charged with murdering Toyah Cordingley on a Far North Queensland beach will face the prospect of a retrial after the jury was unable to reach a unanimous verdict and discharged.
After more than 12 days of evidence, more than 70 witnesses called, arguments from prosecution and defence and 2.5 days of deliberations, the jury of eight men and four women sent a note to the judge at 12.05pm, saying they were “deadlocked” and “cannot see a path to be unanimous”.
Rajwinder Singh, 40, a former Innisfail nurse, has pleaded not guilty to the murder of Ms Cordingley.
Ms Cordingley was stabbed repeatedly – more than 26 times – and her throat cut at Wangetti Beach on October 21, 2018, the court was told during the trial.
Her body was found the next day by her father, Troy Cordingley, who uncovered his missing daughter’s left foot after he scooped away three handfuls of sand from what he later realised was the shallow grave where she had been concealed in a dune.
Ms Cordingley’s mother, Vanessa Gardiner, who was also searching the beach that day had, minutes earlier, found Toyah’s dog, Indie, tied tightly to a tree nearby.
Mr Singh emerged as a suspect several weeks into the police investigation because the movement of his blue Alfa Romeo that day matched Ms Cordingley’s mobile phone after she had died, and he flew suddenly to India the day Ms Cordingley’s body was found without telling his family.
The court was told that he never spoke to his wife and children again.
The jury’s final note to Justice James Henry after two-and-a-half days of deliberations read as follows: “We asked the (jury) group, ‘Are there any more things to discuss? Is there any more evidence to review, are there any more questions to present to the judge. All members answered ‘no’. We voted again, and we are deadlocked. We cannot see a path to being unanimous. Please advise.”
“Judges are usually reluctant to discharge a jury because, experience shows, that juries can often agree upon a verdict with discussion of issues,” Justice Henry said to the jury.
“It seems, from the content of the note I’ve just received from you, that you are at the point where, having one long time to consider and discuss the issues, you do not see yourselves being able to reach a verdict.”
He thanked the jury for their diligence and service to the community.
“No one could accuse you of not trying to resolve the case.”
Ms Cordingley’s mother, Vanessa Gardiner, and her father, Troy Cordingley, and their partners attended every day of the trial, leaving the courtroom only when autopsy and crime scene photos were shown to the jury.
About 20-30 family, friends and community members have also attended daily, most wearing sunflower-patterned clothes and jewellery in memory of Ms Cordingley.
Some people broke down in tears outside court after the jury was dismissed.
Mr Singh’s family members attended the court only to give evidence, and his wife would not look at him when she entered court.
She gave her evidence, then left.
None of the lawyers, police, or family would comment on the case or the result as it remains before the courts.
Justice Henry set the matter down for mention at 9am on Wednesday, March 26, to discuss “available windows” for the retrial, based on the availability of barristers for the prosecution and defence and trial witnesses.
He said he saw no reason for the retrial to be held outside Cairns, but noted that much of the trial had been covered “reasonably accurately (so) this town now knows, if they read the press or watch the news, basically what is involved in this case”.
The court was told an arrest warrant was issued for Rajwinder Singh in November 2022, and initial attempts to find him in India were unsuccessful.
He was arrested at a Sikh temple in Delhi later that month.
He did not oppose his extradition.
While he was held in the Cairns watch-house, he spoke to an undercover detective who had been placed in his cell, saying that he had seen the murder take place and had “run for his life”, fearing that he would be next.
The recording was played to the jury.
During the trial, the prosecution’s case was described as circumstantial, built on foundations that Mr Singh’s car moved along the same path as Ms Cordingley’s phone after she had died, that DNA consistent with his was on a stick in her burial site at the beach, and that he fled to India.
The defence argued that the police investigation was flawed and that the jury could not be satisfied that other possible suspects, including her boyfriend Marco Heidenreich, were not the killer.
They also questioned investigators about another grey car whose path was similar to Ms Cordingley’s phone, and whose owner was never found, and also unidentified DNA which was obtained at the scene of the crime.
This article originally appeared on the Cairns Post and was reproduced with permission
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