Wangetti Beach nudist grilled in court over 'terrible history of violence'
A nudist who left contact details on a woman's car at Wangetti Beach has faced questioning about his violent past and movements before Toyah Cordingley's murder.
A nudist who visited Wangetti Beach in the weeks before Toyah Cordingley’s death has been questioned extensively about his mental health, criminal history and his movements on the day she died.
On Tuesday, day 11 of Rajwinder Singh’s murder trial, several men who live at or have visited Wangetti Beach testified, including Cairns resident Evan McCrea.
Mr Singh, 41, has pleaded not guilty to the murder of Toyah Cordingley.
The jury heard Mr McCrea called Crime Stoppers a week after Ms Cordingley’s death at his ex‑partner’s urging.
She had seen a newspaper article with the headline ‘Public masturbator photographed on Toyah Cordingley murder beach’ and told Mr McCrea “this is not looking good for you”, due to past interaction he had with a topless woman at Wangetti Beach, the court was told.
Mr McCrea talked to her about a nudist retreat and left his contact details on her car, which his ex-partner knew about, the court was told.
He told the court he had been a nudist “all his life” and agreed he visited Wangetti Beach from time to time, and hunted pigs in his younger days.
The movements of Mr McCrea’s red ute on October 21, 2018, were also shown to the jury, with CCTV images of it passing through the Caravonica roundabout on its way to Smithfield shopping centre.
Mr McCrea was also questioned about a wrist injury that police noted at that time, and about his personal life.
He explained the injury as variously being caused by broken tiles, reaching into a skip bin and nails on a piece of copper.
Defence barrister Gregory McGuire KC questioned him about “anger issues”.
He put to Mr McCrea a text message he had sent saying, “I need to go pigging to KILL SOMETHING.”
Mr McCrea said he did send that message out of frustration and because he was upset.
Defence further challenged Mr McCrea over his “terrible history of violence,” including road rage incidents, and a 2002 road collision confrontation where he armed himself with a T-ball bat.
Several Wangetti Beach residents also testified, describing the tracks they used to access the beach through the bush and mangroves and explaining why they carried knives while walking these tracks.
Cohen ‘Matty’ Hollands, who lived at Wangetti Beach, said he carried a knife for protection and self-defence.
“There’s been numerous occasions when … I’ve felt something watching … I look over and see this dirty big black crocodile about three metres away, swimming up to the spot where I was about to cross the little bridge,” he said.
He provided knives and DNA to the police for testing, as did fellow Wangetti Beach resident at the time, Lee Moran.
He said he sometimes carried knives for protection while hunting pigs with his dog, and he occasionally saw others pig hunting in the area.
In 2018 he told police he had also seen a white man in a white van, describing him as a ‘local nudist’, but could give no further identifying details.
Evidence was also called about schoolteacher, Remy Fry, whose mum. Christine Fry, testified that her son visited their family home at Wangetti Beach the day Toyah Cordingley died.
“He stayed at home for a while, we talked, sorted out some of his clothes, and then he went down to visit Josh (his friend) … then he came back and stayed around for a little longer,” Ms Fry said.
“He wouldn’t have gone anywhere else – that is what he did with his time,” she said.
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Originally published as Wangetti Beach nudist grilled in court over 'terrible history of violence'
