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

Toyah Cordingley was repeatedly stabbed with a sharp object and buried in a sandy grave with minimal hope of surviving, the jury has heard.

The remains were found by her father the next day on Wangetti Beach – a stretch of shoreline between the tourist centres of Cairns and Port Douglas.

The accused, 41, has pleaded not guilty to killing Ms Cordingley on a weekend in October 2018 in northern Australia.

Jury Inspection to Beach

The jury of 10 men and two women plus three back-up jurors visited the beach along with the judge and legal counsel on Monday morning local time.

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

Both the prosecuting and defence barristers selected polo shirts, bottoms and baseball caps.

Scene Particulars

The jurors were led around 1.2km along the beach to see where Ms Cordingley's body were discovered.

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

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

Context of the Trial

Previously, the Cairns Supreme Court heard that the following day Ms Cordingley's body were found, Mr Singh departed from Australia to India – abandoning his spouse, family and relatives.

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

State Case

It is alleged that Mr Singh, who was working as a nurse in the community of Innisfail, south of Cairns, had a altercation with Ms Cordingley.

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

Those objects were taken by the killer to avoid detection, the prosecution contend.

Her dog, Indie, which Ms Cordingley had brought along for a walk, was found tied up to a tree concealed in shrubland about 100 feet from the grave.

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

But the prosecution 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 stick at the location was extremely more probable to have come from Mr Singh than a unrelated individual of the population.

The court has previously been told evidence indicating that Ms Cordingley's phone left the scene after the incident – and that its movements matched those of a blue Alfa Romeo owned by the defendant.

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

Defense Stance

"While authorities were discovering Toyah's body, he was arranging... a rushed single journey back to India," the prosecutor said last week as he opened his case.

The defence is has not present any evidence, but in his initial statement, the defense attorney Greg McGuire portrayed his defendant as a "placid" and "caring" man, who was in the "incorrect location at the wrong time."

He also foreshadowed evidence to come subsequently that, after his arrest, Mr Singh told an undercover officer 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 "identified and unidentified" who should come under suspicion.

Further Testimony

Ms Cordingley's boyfriend at the time, the witness, whom police excluded as a possible suspect, was one who testified last week.

The trial heard he was an initial person of interest – and that he had faced questions from Ms Cordingley's parent about whether he was involved in his partner's vanishing, prior to her remains were found.

Photographs depicting Mr Heidenreich on a hike with a companion on the day Ms Cordingley went missing have been presented to the jury, with an expert saying he was confident the pictures were genuine and had not been doctored in any way.

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