Toyah Cordingley murder trial: Forensic scientists detail search for blood and DNA
Forensic scientists have detailed their searches for blood and DNA evidence on cars, dog leads and crime scene items in the Toyah Cordingley murder trial.
Forensic scientists who worked in the Toyah Cordingley murder investigation have detailed their searches for blood and trace DNA on a dog lead, collar, condom wrapper and inside cars on the 12th day of the trial.
Innisfail nurse Rajwinder Singh, 41, has pleaded not guilty in the Cairns Supreme Court to the murder of Ms Cordingley on October 21, 2018.
Ms Cordingley’s body was found in a shallow sand grave the day after she was killed, with multiple stab wounds and large cuts, the court has been told.
Her dog, Indi, who she had been walking along the beach was found tied up tightly to a tree nearby.
Forensic officer Senior Sergeant Amanda Milligan said small stains, areas and spots on the cars of Rajwinder Singh and Toyah Cordingley’s boyfriend, Marco Heidenreich, showed up as ‘positive’ in a test used to detect blood.
She told the jury a ‘Combur-test’ was used by forensic scientists to identify possible areas of blood, but said other organic matter, like insect strikes could also trigger a positive result.
Sergeant Milligan said she spent two days examining and collecting samples from a blue Alfa Romeo car belonging to Mr Singh.
She said she identified a ‘blood stain’ on the underside of a tissue box in the back of the car, and obtained a positive Combur-test result for the underside of an external rear door handle.
Sergeant Milligan’s observations of the car included that the driver’s seat leather was ‘shinier’ than other seats, that the front floor mats were not in the car, though there were mats in the rear, and there was sand in the car.
She said the car appeared to be tidy and relatively clean, and didn’t believe it had been vacuumed or detailed recently. She also tested a Queensland Health lanyard that was inside the car, she said.
The court was told luminol testing was performed on the inside of Mr Singh’s car, and did not show up any blood.
Sergeant Milligan said she also examined Mr Heidenreich’s car, identifying three small spots less than 1mm each on the front external panel that showed up as possibly positive for blood.
She took samples from Ms Cordingley’s bikini, which tested positive for possible semen, she said.
She took a tape lift from a condom wrapper almost 1km away from Ms Cordingley’s ‘grave’, she told the jury, and swabbed a glowstick found much closer to where Ms Cordingley’s body was buried.
‘Two homicide investigations going on at same time’: Court told
A man being “tracked” by police for killing a friend in Mossman within weeks of Toyah Cordingley’s death was mentioned during early investigations into the 24-year-old’s alleged murder, the jury was told.
One of the detectives involved in early investigation into “persons of interest”, Detective Sergeant Bradley McLeish, said the name of the Mossman killer came up in Ms Cordingley’s murder investigation because he was banned from the Paws and Claws animal shelter where she worked for his treatment of animals.
Sergeant McLeish said he did not personally make further investigations into the man, who was later convicted, but fed that into the information centre where there was “upwards of 40 detectives working” on the matter.
Federal police outline Mr Singh’s arrest in India
Detective Superintendent Murray Taylor, an Australian Federal Police deployed to India from January 2018 to January 2024, said news of a reward being offered to locate Mr Singh was publicised widely in India in early November 2022.
He told the jury that within three weeks, information was received that led to his arrest.
Mr Taylor told the court he was told in late-November that Mr Singh was in the northern part of New Delhi, and was expected to attend a place of worship.
“About a dozen officers were waiting for him”, Sup Taylor said.
The court was told extradition was granted by Indian authorities on 24 January 2023 without contest by Mr Singh, who was returned to Australia in police custody on 28 February 2023.
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Originally published as Toyah Cordingley murder trial: Forensic scientists detail search for blood and DNA
