Toyah Cordingley murder trial: Throat and body were cut before she was buried, court told

Cairns woman Toyah Cordingley sustained a deep cut from one side of her neck to the other and may have been buried alive, a jury has been told.

Cairns woman Toyah Cordingley may have been buried alive and had “no hope of survival” from her horrific injuries, a jury has been told.

Her last messages to loved ones and the gruesome injuries inflicted upon her in her last moments have been outlined to thejury by Crown prosecutor Nathan Crane at the opening of the trial.

Rajwinder Singh, 39, has pleaded not guilty to murdering Ms Cordingley, 24, at Wangetti Beach in Far North Queensland on October 21, 2018.

Mr Crane said she was “buried shortly before or after her death”.

“She was left with her injuries with no hope of survival,” Mr Crane said.

He began his opening address to the jury by describing the horrific injuries inflicted upon Ms Cordingley and the growing alarm and distress of her family in the hours before they found her body in a shallow grave in a sand dune at Wangetti Beach.

Toyah Cordingley died at Wangetti Beach on October 21, 2018. Picture: Facebook

The court was told there were no witnesses to Ms Cordingley’s death, nor could anyone testify to her movements and activities on the beach that afternoon with her dog Indie.

Presiding Judge Justice James Henry told the jury the Crown’s case relied on circumstantial evidence.

Mr Crane said Ms Cordingley’s last movements and moments were pieced together using closed circuit television footage, dashcam footage, telephone cell tower data about where her phone was “pinging”, and forensic pathology data.

Her injuries included a deep cut from one side of her neck to the other, which had cut across her windpipe, Mr Crane said.

Toyah Cordingley’s last messages to loved ones and the gruesome injuries inflicted on her in her final moments have been outlined to a jury at the opening of her murder trial. Rajwinder Singh, 39, has appeared charged with her murder and has pleaded not guilty. Picture: Megan Pritchard

“She was alive when she sustained that injury,” he said.

The court was told she had a number of wounds to her body, including several along her torso “on her left side in the area of her heart”, and “defensive injuries” to her hands.

“The injuries speak of someone who had only intended to take away her life,” Mr Crane said.

He said the weapon had never been found, and was likely something easily-concealed, like a paring knife or pocket knife, that had been taken from the scene by the killer.

Ms Cordingley’s family and friends began to worry about her in the early evening when she stopped responding to phone calls and text messages they had sent.

Toyah Cordingley walked her dog, Indie, along Wangetti Beach, a secluded strip of sand 40km north of Cairns, on Sunday October 21, 2018. Her body was found the following day, partially buried in a sand dune. PICTURE: BRENDAN RADKE

Her boyfriend found her car on the side of the road later that night, Mr Crane said.

He called for her on the beach then called triple-0, a friend and Ms Cordingley’s family when she did not reply, the court was told.

Mr Crane said Ms Cordingley’s mum, dad and boyfriend began searching for her in the evening.

Ms Cordingley’s father found her body the next day.

“Her dad noticed there was a mound in the sand set very close to the dune,” Mr Crane said.

“He dug ever so lightly and there was a foot that was produced from that sand ... and he knew it was his daughter who had been missing since the day before.”

Police discovered two more bloodstained patches of sand metres away from Ms Cordingley’s shallow grave that day.

Mr Crane showed the jury drone footage of the 4km stretch of Wangetti beach, and CCTV footage of Ms Cordingley at Rusty’s the day she died.

He showed them the last message Ms Cordingley ever sent, which was to her boyfriend at 3.17pm that day, letting him know she was picking up a friend from the airport later that evening, and ending the message with a red love heart.

Mr Crane said Ms Cordingley died on the beach sometime between 3.30pm and 6.30pm, but that in the early evening, her mobile phone began moving away from Wangetti and towards Cairns city.

Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions barrister Nathan Crane with instructing barrister Hannah McNeale enters the Cairns Supreme Court on the first day of the trial. Picture: Brendan Radke

Justice Henry, in his instructions to the jury, said three elements must be proved by the Crown prosecution team if they were to convict Mr Singh on murder: that Ms Cordingley died, that Mr Singh killed her, and that the killing was unlawful.

He instructed the jury members not to discuss the case with others, and to ignore anything they might hear outside the courtroom about the case.

Potential jurors were asked six questions designed to test their impartiality and connection to the case in the trial of Rajwinder Singh, who has pleaded not guilty to the murder of Toyah Cordingley in 2018.

The questions included whether or not a person had displayed a “Justice for Toyah” bumper sticker, had posted in social media channels about the case, donated to causes related to Ms Cordingley’s death, or attended Ms Cordingley’s funeral.

Anyone who answered “yes” to these questions was excused from the panel.

Justice Henry made an order the questions could not be published until after the jury had been empanelled.

About 390 people were directed to attend court yesterday as potential jurors.

The courthouse was packed all morning as groups of 80 people arrived at 20-minute intervals from 9am, with the jury selection process starting around 12.30pm.

Justice Henry excused seven women and four men in court after reading their answers to the final juror question about concerns they raised about their ability to remain impartial.

A jury will consider the evidence presented against Rajinder Singh, 39, charged with murdering Toyah Cordingley, 24, on October 21, 2018 in a trial in Cairns Supreme Court that is expected to take four weeks.

Fifteen jurors were sworn in, with a jury of 12 – eight men and four women – and three reserve jurors, all men.

Crown Prosecutor Nathan Crane read out a list of 468 names, all potential witnesses in the trial.

Before dismissing the rest of the panel, Justice Henry gave the jury three opportunities to speak up if they knew any of the witnesses, and were concerned about their ability to remain impartial for any reason.

He also encouraged them to think about their ability to attend a view, which would involve a lengthy walk on the beach at Wangetti.

None of the selected jurors raised any concerns.

The trial is expected to take four weeks.

Originally published as Toyah Cordingley murder trial: Throat and body were cut before she was buried, court told