Singh trial explained: The defence and prosecution cases

After three weeks of evidence and the beginning of deliberations, the jury will return a verdict this week on whether they believe Rajwinder Singh is guilty or innocent of the murder of Toyah Cordingley. The arguments for and against conviction explained.

Artists impression of Supreme Court Justice James Henry. Picture: Sketch artist Julie Haysom

After three weeks of evidence and the beginning of deliberations, the jury will return a verdict this week on whether they believe Rajwinder Singh is guilty or innocent of the murder of Toyah Cordingley on Wangetti beach on October 21, 2018.

Justice James Henry ended his summing up of the trial on Friday by explaining the arguments presented by Crown prosecutor Nathan Crane and lead defence counsel Angus Edwards KC.

The prosecution

During the trial, Crown Prosecutor Nathan Crane has presented evidence about the movements of a blue Alfa Romeo car, registered to Mr Singh. Picture: Julie Haysom.

Justice Henry told the jury the prosecution’s case rests on three foundations.

“Did the accused bury Toyah Cordingley? For it must have been the killer who buried her,” he said.

The prosecution submitted that the presence of highly probable DNA matches to Mr Singh on a stick within Ms Cordingley’s burial site, surrounding logs, and her fingernails placed him at the burial site, indicating he buried her.

“Secondly, who had Toyah Cordingley’s phone? For it must have been the killer,” Justice Henry said.

The prosecution asserted that the link between the data of Ms Cordingley’s phone activity matched with the CCTV footage of Mr Singh’s movements, indicating he was one who had possession of her phone as it left the beach.

Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions barrister Nathan Crane arrive at the Cairns Supreme Court pre-trail hearing for Rajwinder Singh, who is accused of the murder of 24 year old Toyah Cordingley on Wangetti Beach on October 21, 2018. Picture: Brendan Radke

“Such is the use between the phone path and the accused, (it) places close attention to him as in the same way the DNA does with the connection with who buried her,” Justice Henry said.

Justice Henry said the third foundation was Mr Singh’s “flight”, leaving behind his family, career, and new home in Australia in an effort to avoid detection, the prosecution submitted.

Justice Henry said the prosecution asked what the alternative was.

“He would have had to be remarkably unlucky.”

He said the prosecution said they simply do not know why Mr Singh killed her and that they did not need to prove motive.

The prosecution addressed the “other possibilities” raised in Mr Singh’s defence.

In relation to Ms Cordingley’s boyfriend, Marco Heidenreich, Mr Crane submitted that the police did investigate him thoroughly.

He noted pair had been together a long time, the corroborating accounts of Marco’s friends indicating his movements on a hike and searching for his lost dog, the fact he was the one to raise the alarm, and the fact his car was not detected in the CCTV footage used to identify vehicles of interest matched with the movements of Toyah’s handset.

He told the jury data from Remy Fry and Evan Mcrae’s phones and CCTV footage also accounted for their movements the day of Toyah’s death.

The defence

Defence barristers Angus Edwards KC and Brydie Bilic arrive at the Cairns Supreme Court pre-trail hearing for Rajwinder Singh, who is accused of the murder of 24 year old Toyah Cordingley on Wangetti Beach on October 21, 2018. Picture: Brendan Radke

Defence Counsel Angus Edwards KC told the jury there was no way of definitively knowing who killed Toyah Cordingley.

Mr Edwards said police should have explored “all the possibilities” rather than “assuming” it was Mr Singh.

He said the investigation “missed the boat” and were blinded to the possibilities in their focus on Mr Singh.

He said the defence relied on five concepts.

The first was if the alternative suspects had nothing to do with the killing, why were there circumstances that made “innocent men seem guilty”?

The second was that the same reasoning must apply to Mr Singh.

The third was that too much of the evidence against Mr Singh fell short of proof beyond a reasonable doubt.

Rajwinder Singh has formally entered a plea of not guilty to the murder of Toyah Cordingley. Picture: Sketch artist by Julie Haysom

The fourth was that the investigation was flawed from the start, and finally the other possibilities were consistent with somebody other than Mr Singh killing Ms Cordingley.

Mr Edwards addressed Mr Singh’s clothes, which he said showed no signs of blood.

Mr Edwards said there was no trace of Ms Cordingley in Mr Singh’s house or any trace of blood in his car apart from a small amount of his own “that could have been there for who knows how long”.

Mr Edwards called the investigation “biased”, noting Ms Cordingley’s boyfriend Marco Heidenreich was the stepson of a former Cairns police officer.

He said there was an “unknown person’s DNA” on the gravesite.

This included DNA from Ms Cordingley’s nails, and taken from her foot.

He also suggested Toyah Cordingley could have been killed by youth criminals during “a robbery gone wrong”.

Mr Edwards also returned to two cars that matched the timing advance data; one that was not excluded and a second which was ruled out during the police investigations into CCTV traffic footage.

Mr Edwards told the jury if there was a reasonable other possibility open that someone else killed Ms Cordingley they must find Mr Singh not guilty.

“Even if you think that it is one rational possibility that Rajwinder Singh killed Toyah Cordingley, because if there is more than one possibility open, the law requires you go much further,” he said.

“It’s not enough if that possibility is one of the possibilities that fits the evidence.

“In the end, to convict him, you would have to be convinced that him being the killer is the only reasonable possibility open on the evidence.”

Originally published as Singh trial explained: The defence and prosecution cases