A hung jury has ended the trial of a former hospital nurse accused of murder after a young woman was fatally stabbed on an isolated beach.
The jury was on Tuesday discharged after it was unable to reach a verdict following days of deliberations, more than six years after Toyah Cordingley’s body was discovered.
Ms Cordingley, a 24-year-old organic food store worker, was found buried in sand at a beach outside Cairns, far north Queensland, on October 22, 2018.
Rajwinder Singh, 40, from nearby Innisfail, had pleaded not guilty to murder.
The jury had begun deliberating on Friday after being shown graphic autopsy photos during the 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.
Ms 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.
The jury in 24-year-old Toyah Cordingley’s murder trial was discharged on Tuesday
Rajwinder Singh, 40, had previously pleaded not guilty to murder
Ms Cordingley’s father, Troy, found the body while investigating a mound of sand at the beach.
Her dog Indie was found unharmed and tied to a nearby tree.
Crown prosecutor Nathan Crane told the jury nobody witnessed Ms Cordingley being killed or saw the murderer get away.
DNA and mobile phone evidence was presented by the prosecution, who told the jury Singh left his family, quit his job and flew to India the day after Ms Cordingley’s body was found.
He was not seen again until November 2022 when he was found and extradited to Australia, the jury was told.
Singh was an Indian national who had lived in Australia since 2009.
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.
Ms Cordingley, a 24-year-old organic food store worker, was found buried in sand at a beach outside Cairns, far north Queensland , on October 22, 2018
DNA and mobile phone evidence was presented by the prosecution, who told the jury Singh left his family, quit his job and flew to India the day after Ms Cordingley’s body was found
Crown prosecutor Nathan Crane told the jury nobody witnessed Ms Cordingley being killed or saw the murderer get away
He told the jury police went to great lengths to examine Singh’s clothes, movements, associates and car.
‘My question to you is did they do the same thing with the other suspects?’ Mr Edwards said.
The defence claimed investigators ‘protected’ Mr Heidenreich because his stepdad was a former Cairns police officer.
Mr Heidenreich testified he had no involvement in Ms Cordingley’s death.
After more than two days of deliberating, the jury issued a note saying it was deadlocked and could not reach a verdict.
It was discharged by Justice Henry who adjourned the case until next week to set a date for a retrial.
Ms Cordingley’s family reportedly made no comment outside court.
