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Members of the jury overseeing a widely publicized Queensland homicide case have been taken to the remote shore where the young woman was discovered.

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

The remains were found by a family member the following day on Wangetti Beach – a section of shoreline nestled between the tourist centres of Cairns and Port Douglas.

The accused, 41, denies murdering Ms Cordingley on a weekend in October 2018 in Far North Queensland.

Jury Inspection to Beach

The jury of 10 men and two women plus several alternates visited the beach along with the judge and barristers on the start of the week in Queensland.

In a acknowledgment of the hot climate and sweltering heat, the judge wore a T-shirt, athletic wear and sneakers rather than a wig and robes.

Both the prosecuting and defense attorneys selected casual shirts, shorts and headwear.

Location Particulars

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

Upon arrival, as they traveled to the site, several markers showed where the vehicle had been parked.

The visit was designed to help the jurors become familiar with important sites in the trial and no official evidence was given.

Context of the Trial

Last week, the court was informed that the day after Ms Cordingley's body were discovered, the accused flew from Australia to India – leaving behind his wife, three children and parents.

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

Prosecution Case

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

The pharmacy worker was found wearing a bikini, with all her other clothes and belongings absent.

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

Her dog, Indie, which Ms Cordingley had brought along for a walk, was located secured to a tree hidden in bushland about 100 feet from the grave.

No murder weapon was ever recovered, and no eyewitnesses have been identified.

But the state says the crown's case – though indirect – was made up of findings that indicated Mr Singh "and eliminated others."

This will involve testimony that DNA recovered from a object at the location was 3.8 billion times more likely to have come from Mr Singh than a random member of the public.

The jury has previously been told testimony indicating that Ms Cordingley's phone left the beach after the incident – and that its travel corresponded with those of a blue Alfa Romeo owned by the defendant.

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

Defence Stance

"While authorities were discovering Toyah's remains, he was organizing... a hurriedly arranged one way trip back to India," the prosecutor said last week as he opened his case.

The defense is has not present any evidence, but in his initial statement, the defense attorney the lawyer described his defendant as a "placid" and "caring" man, who was in the "wrong place at the wrong time."

He also foreshadowed testimony to come later in the trial that, after his apprehension, Mr Singh informed an undercover officer he had seen two masked men attack Ms Cordingley and then had run away in terror – something he said was his "biggest mistake."

The defense attorney has also said he will give evidence about individuals "identified and unidentified" who should come under suspicion.

Additional Testimony

Ms Cordingley's boyfriend at the time, the witness, whom authorities excluded as a person of interest, was one who testified previously.

The court was informed he was an initial person of interest – 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 discovered.

Photographs depicting Mr Heidenreich on a hike with a companion on the day Ms Cordingley disappeared have been presented to the court, with an specialist saying he was confident the photos were authentic and had not been doctored in any way.

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