Beach murder jury dismissed after failing to reach a verdict

A jury has been unable to reach a unanimous verdict in the trial of a man accused of murder after a young woman was fatally stabbed on an isolated Queensland beach.

Toyah Cordingley, a 24-year-old organic food store worker, was found buried in sand at a beach outside Cairns in Far North Queensland on October 22, 2018.

Former hospital nurse Rajwinder Singh, 40, from nearby Innisfail, had pleaded not guilty to her murder.

Police escort Rajwinder Singh, 38, after he was arrested in New Delhi, India, in November 2022.Credit: AP Photo/Dinesh Joshi

The jury began deliberating on Friday after being shown graphic autopsy photos during a 13-day trial in the Supreme Court in Cairns and hearing from hundreds of witnesses.

Justice James Henry earlier told jurors the prosecution would present a case based on circumstantial evidence because there was no direct witness to the alleged crime.

Cordingley took her dog for a walk at Wangetti Beach, a long and isolated stretch of sand about a 40-minute drive north of Cairns, on October 21, 2018.

Her boyfriend, Marco Heidenreich, called triple zero to report her missing after he found her vehicle in the beach car park and was unable to reach her by phone.

Cordingley’s father, Troy, found her body while investigating a mound of sand on the beach.

Her dog, Indie, was found unharmed and tied to a nearby tree.

Crown prosecutor Nathan Crane told the jury no-one witnessed Cordingley being killed or saw the murderer get away.

But Singh’s distinctive blue Alfa Romeo sedan could be linked to the location of Cordingley’s phone as it contacted cell towers after being taken from her body, he said.

Toyah Cordingley\'s parents have shared a picture when their daughter first got her license and car six years ago.Credit: Facebook

Singh, an Indian national, had lived in Australia since 2009, the jury was told.

He flew out of Australia the day after Cordingley’s body was found, quit his job and stopped paying the mortgage on his family’s two-storey house, Crane said.

He was not seen again until November 2022, when he was found and extradited to Australia, the jury was told.

Lead defence barrister Angus Edwards told jurors they could not convict Singh unless they could reject all other reasonable suspects for the killing.

“This whole trial comes down to one issue: could it only have been Rajwinder Singh or is he just one of several possibilities?” he said.

After more than two days of deliberating, the jury could not reach a unanimous verdict and was discharged on Tuesday.

AAP