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Members of the jury overseeing a widely publicized Australian murder trial have been taken to the isolated beach where the victim was discovered.

Toyah Cordingley was repeatedly attacked with a bladed weapon and placed in a shallow grave with minimal chance of survival, the court has heard.

The remains were discovered by her father the following day on Wangetti Beach – a stretch of coastline nestled between the popular destinations of Cairns and Port Douglas.

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

Court Inspection to Crime Scene

The jury of 12 individuals plus several back-up jurors visited the beach along with the presiding officer and barristers on the start of the week in Queensland.

In a acknowledgment of the tropical conditions and sweltering heat, Justice Lincoln Crowley wore a T-shirt, athletic wear and sneakers rather than a wig and robes.

Both the lead prosecution and defence barristers chose casual shirts, shorts and baseball caps.

Scene Details

The court members were guided around three-quarters of a mile north up the sand to observe where Ms Cordingley's remains were uncovered.

Upon arrival, as they arrived by bus, four red and white cones indicated where the vehicle had been left.

The trip was designed to help the jurors become familiar with key locations in the trial and no official evidence was given.

Context of the Case

Last week, the court heard that the following day Ms Cordingley's remains were found, the accused departed from Australia to India – leaving behind his wife, three children and parents.

He was not heard from until he was apprehended years after, the prosecution said.

Prosecution Argument

It is claimed that the defendant, who was employed in healthcare in the community of Innisfail, south of Cairns, had a altercation with Ms Cordingley.

The victim was found wearing a bikini, with all her other clothes and belongings missing.

Those items were taken by the killer to conceal evidence, prosecutors allege.

Her dog, Indie, which Ms Cordingley had brought along for a stroll, was located tied up to a post hidden in bushland about 30 metres from the burial site.

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

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

This will involve evidence that genetic material recovered from a stick at the location was extremely more probable to have come from Mr Singh than a random member of the public.

The jury has already heard evidence indicating that Ms Cordingley's phone departed the beach after the killing – and that its movements matched those of a blue Alfa Romeo owned by the defendant.

Mr Singh's sudden departure from Australia also pointed to his guilt, the prosecution has claimed.

Defense Stance

"As the police were discovering Toyah's body, he was organizing... a rushed single journey back to India," the prosecutor said last week as he began arguments.

The defense is has not present any evidence, but in his opening address, Mr Singh's barrister the lawyer described his client as a "placid" and "caring" man, who was in the "incorrect location at the unfortunate moment."

He also hinted at testimony to come later in the trial that, after his apprehension, Mr Singh informed an plainclothes agent he had seen two masked men attack Ms Cordingley and then had fled in terror – something he said was his "biggest mistake."

Mr McGuire has also said he will testify about individuals "both known and unknown" who should come under investigation.

Additional Testimony

Ms Cordingley's partner, Marco Heidenreich, whom authorities excluded as a person of interest, was among those who testified previously.

The trial was informed he was an immediate police suspect – and that he had been interrogated from Ms Cordingley's father about whether he was implicated in his girlfriend's vanishing, prior to her remains were found.

Photographs showing the witness on a walk with a friend on the date Ms Cordingley disappeared have been presented to the jury, with an expert saying he was confident the pictures were genuine and had not been altered in any way.

The trial will return to the more conventional setting of the courthouse on the next day.