Toyah Cordingley’s intimate friend and podiatrist accessed ‘murder porn’, court hears
A man who shared intimate relationship with murder victim Toyah Cordingley has admitted viewing “murder porn” and “rape porn”.
After a busy and shocking first day of witness testimony the trial of Rajwinder Singh for the murder of Toyah Cordingley recommenced at 10am on Thursday.
Rajwinder Singh, 39, has pleaded not guilty to murdering Ms Cordingley, 24, at Wangetti Beach in Far North Queensland on October 21, 2018.
Ms Cordingley drove to Wangetti Beach, north of Cairns, for a Sunday afternoon walk with her dog on October 21, 2018 and never returned.
‘Flirtatious’ friend cross examined
A podiatrist who shared an intimate relationship with Ms Cordingley admitted viewing “murder porn” and “rape porn” while being cross examined, the Cairns Post reports.
Tyson Franklin initially hesitated but eventually answered “yes”.
Mr Franklin revealed the pair started a relationship after she attended his workplace for podiatry services.
During cross-examination by defence counsel Brydie Bilic, Mr Franklin, revealed the pair began a “flirtatious” friendship in the beginning of October.
When asked to clarify if he had a sexual relationship with Ms Cordingley by prosecutor Hannah McNeale, Mr Franklin said “no”.
“We lay together and I ran my hands over her body, we cuddled,” he said.
Ms Bilic then asked if he accepted it went further than in that description.
Mr Franklin said he accepted that.
The court heard the pair completed a Harry Potter quiz during that first appointment and had later exchanged phone numbers using the names “Slytherin” and “Gryffindor” in each other’s contacts.
Ms Bilic asked if it was more than a friendship and suggested they were in a “relationship”.
“We had chemistry,” he said.
Ms Bilic pressed Mr Franklin on his original statements to police where he said he and Ms Cordingley had not acted upon their chemistry and nothing physical had happened.
The court heard the two had shared a night together a week before her death which became physical.
Asked by Mr Bilic if he had lied to police Mr Franklin said he “didn’t talk about it in full”.
The court heard the pair had shared a large number of “flirtatious” text messages.
Ms Bilic asked about what Mr Franklin knew about Toyah’s relationship.
“I thought she was unhappy in her relationship,” he said.
Text about ‘friend’ revealed after boyfriend’s phone seized
Ms Cordingley’s boyfriend Marco Heidenreich’s phone was seized revealing a text message from Toyah saying she was picking up a friend named Tyson from the airport later on the day of her death.
The detective then confirmed CCTV footage played to the jury from the Cairns Airport showed a man named Tyson Franklin arriving in Cairns before taking an Uber.
The detective confirmed a receipt from the Uber trip was supplied by Mr Franklin.
The court was then 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.
The detective also confirmed a number of photos were taken from Mr Heidenreich’s friend, Joel Cuman’s phone, showing the pair’s hiking trip which they took on the day of Toyah’s death.
Forensic scientist details positive blood tests
The court was shown images taken during the excavation of Toyah Cordingley’s body and the initial investigations of the burial site as forensic scientist Sergeant Kylie Webster gave evidence before the court.
Images from the burial site show a mound on the edge of the scrub surrounded by a number of logs and sticks.
At the bottom of the mound a set of toes can be seen protruding from the sand.
Photos taken during the excavation revealed Ms Cordingley’s body, feet towards the beach.
Ms Cordingley’s body is dressed in a white and floral pattern bikini top, heavily stained with blood and with a number of stab wounds across her body.
Sergeant Webster said Ms Cordingley’s bikini did not seem to be out of place.
She explained the processes the police undertook during examination of the scene.
She said the sand over her body was removed and then sieved to find any items of interest.
The court heard one item collected was a stick found in the sand above her body which was examined with samples taken for DNA testing after a presumptive match for blood.
Sergeant Webster said potential DNA samples were collected from Ms Cordingley’s body, clothes and nearby items of interest using swabs and adhesive tape.
The court heard a number of blood stains were found in locations around the burial site.
Two knives were also uncovered at the beach but neither tested positive for blood and were not presumed to be the murder weapon.
Sergeant Webster confirmed that a shirt from Ms Cordingley’s boyfriend, Marco Heidenreich, was also tested for blood which returned a positive result from some small stains.
Sergeant Webster also attended the Innisfail address of Rajwinder Singh where a polo shirt, a pair of grey shorts and a pair of blue shoes were seized for testing and other samples were taken from the home.