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Members of the jury overseeing a high-profile Australian homicide case have traveled to the isolated shore where the young woman was discovered.

Toyah Cordingley was multiple times attacked with a sharp object and placed in a shallow grave with little or no hope of surviving, the jury has heard.

Her body were found by her father the next day on Wangetti Beach – a section of shoreline between the tourist centres of Cairns and Port Douglas.

The accused, 41, has pleaded not guilty to killing Ms Cordingley on a Sunday afternoon in October 2018 in Far North Queensland.

Court Visit to Beach

The panel of 10 men and two women plus three back-up jurors attended the beach along with the judge and legal counsel on the start of the week local time.

In a nod to the hot climate and temperatures above 30C, Justice Lincoln Crowley wore a casual top, athletic wear and sneakers rather than a wig and robes.

Both the prosecuting and defense attorneys selected polo shirts, bottoms and headwear.

Location Particulars

The jurors were led around 1.2km north up the sand to see where Ms Cordingley's body were discovered.

Earlier, as they traveled to the site, several markers showed where the victim's car had been parked.

The visit was designed to help the panel become familiar with important sites in the case and no official evidence was presented.

Background of the Trial

Previously, the Cairns Supreme Court heard that the following day Ms Cordingley's body were found, the accused departed from Australia to India – abandoning his spouse, three children and parents.

He was out of contact until he was apprehended years after, the state said.

State Argument

It is alleged that Mr Singh, who was employed in healthcare in the town of Innisfail, south of Cairns, had a confrontation with Ms Cordingley.

The victim was found wearing a swimwear, with her attire and belongings missing.

Those items were taken by the killer to conceal evidence, the prosecution contend.

Her dog, Indie, which Ms Cordingley had taken to the beach for a stroll, was found tied up to a tree hidden in bushland about 30 metres from the grave.

The weapon was ever recovered, and no eyewitnesses have been found.

But the state says the evidence – though indirect – was made up of findings that indicated Mr Singh "excluding other suspects."

This will include evidence that genetic material obtained from a object at the scene was 3.8 billion times more probable to have come from Mr Singh than a unrelated individual of the population.

The court has previously been told evidence suggesting that Ms Cordingley's mobile device departed the beach after the incident – and that its movements matched those of a blue Alfa Romeo belonging to the defendant.

Mr Singh's quick exit from Australia also pointed to his guilt, the state has argued.

Defence Position

"While authorities were finding Toyah's body, he was arranging... a rushed one way trip back to India," Mr Crane said last week as he began arguments.

The defense is has not provided testimony, but in his opening address, the defense attorney Greg McGuire portrayed his client as a "placid" and "caring" man, who was in the "wrong place at the unfortunate moment."

He also foreshadowed evidence to come later in the trial that, after his arrest, Mr Singh told an plainclothes agent he had seen assailants attack Ms Cordingley and then had run away in terror – something he said was his "gravest error."

Mr McGuire has also said he will give evidence about other people "identified and unidentified" who should come under investigation.

Further Testimony

Ms Cordingley's partner, Marco Heidenreich, whom authorities quickly ruled out as a person of interest, was among those who testified last week.

The trial was informed he was an initial police suspect – and that he had faced questions from Ms Cordingley's parent about whether he was implicated in his partner's vanishing, prior to her remains were found.

Photographs depicting Mr Heidenreich on a hike with a friend on the date Ms Cordingley went missing have been shown to the jury, with an expert saying he was certain the pictures were genuine and had not been doctored in any manner.

The case will resume to the more conventional setting of the courthouse on the next day.