Jurors in a high-profile Australian murder trial have been taken to the remote Queensland beach where the victim was found.
Toyah Cordingley was 'repeatedly' stabbed with a sharp object and put in a shallow sandy grave with 'little or no hope of surviving', the jury has heard.
The 24-year-old's body was discovered by her father the following day on Wangetti Beach - a stretch of coastline between the tourist centres of Cairns and Port Douglas.
Rajwinder Singh, 41, denies murdering Ms Cordingley on a Sunday afternoon in October 2018 in Far North Queensland.
The jury of 10 men and two women, plus three back-up jurors, attended the beach along with the judge and barristers on Monday morning local time, as the second week of the trial got under way.
In a nod to the tropical conditions and temperatures above 30C, Justice Lincoln Crowley wore a T-shirt, sport shorts and trainers rather than a wig and robes. Both the lead prosecution and defence barristers opted for polo shirts, shorts and baseball caps.
The jurors were led around 1.2km north up the sand to see where Ms Cordingley's body was discovered.
Earlier, as they arrived by bus, four red and white cones marked where the victim's car had been parked. The trip was intended to help the jurors become familiar with key locations in the case and no official evidence was given.
Last week, the Cairns Supreme Court heard that the day after Ms Cordingley's body was discovered, Mr Singh flew from Australia to India – leaving behind his wife, three children and parents. He was not heard from until he was arrested four years later, the prosecution said.
It is alleged that Mr Singh, who was working as a nurse in the town of Innisfail, south of Cairns, had a confrontation with Ms Cordingley, whom prosecutor Nathan Crane described as 'a young woman, blonde and attractive'.
The pharmacy worker was found wearing a bikini, with all her other clothes and most of her possessions missing. Those items were allegedly taken by the killer to avoid detection.
Her dog, Indie, which Ms Cordingley had taken to the beach for a walk, was found tied up to a tree hidden in shrubland about 30 metres from the grave.
No murder weapon was ever recovered, and no eyewitnesses have been found. However, the prosecution states that the circumstantial evidence against Mr Singh is strong.
As the police were finding Toyah's body, he was organizing a hurriedly arranged one-way trip back to India, Mr Crane alleged.
The defense is yet to present any evidence, but Mr Singh's barrister, Greg McGuire, described him as a 'placid' and 'caring' man, who was in the 'wrong place at the wrong time'.
The trial will return to the more conventional setting of the courthouse on Tuesday.
