A Supreme Court jury has been shown a series of photographs of murdered woman Toyah Cordingley’s boyfriend on a waterfall hike the afternoon she died, which a police analyst says showed no signs of having been manipulated.
Ms Cordingley, 24, was allegedly murdered at Wangetti Beach, north of Cairns, where she had gone to walk her dog on October 21, 2018.
Former Innisfail nurse Rajwinder Singh, 41, is standing trial at the Supreme Court in Cairns, having pleaded not guilty to her murder.
The court heard Mr Singh left his family the day Ms Cordingley’s body was found and flew to India, not returning to Australia until he was extradited in 2023.
Rajwinder Singh has pleaded not guilty to murder. (ABC News: Paula Broughton)
Much of the evidence during the trial’s first days has centred on the movements and alibi of Ms Cordingley’s partner, Marco Heidenreich.
The court previously heard Mr Heidenreich was the first to raise the alarm about Ms Cordingley’s disappearance after finding her unattended car parked at Wangetti Beach late at night on his way home to Cairns.
Police delved into phone database
Joel Cuman, a friend of Mr Heidenreich’s since primary school, told the court the pair hiked to a swimming hole at the top of Spring Creek Falls, near Port Douglas, that afternoon.
The court was shown eight photographs that Mr Cuman said were taken on the hike, some of which showed he and Mr Heidenreich together, along with images of Mr Heidenreich’s dogs, Jersey and Bentley.Â
Police digital forensic analyst Acting Sergeant Mathew Rohde told the court he performed an analysis of the phone used to take the photographs and did not find any evidence that the time stamp or location data had been edited.
“If you modify [metadata] on a phone, there are traces left behind,” he told the court.
The photographs were time stamped between 3:41pm and 5:09pm on October 21, with location data putting them in the Spring Creek and Port Douglas area.
Sergeant Rohde said he had spent “hundreds of hours” analysing the phone data and did not believe they could have been manipulated “without a trace” in less than 72 hours, between the day of the murder and Mr Heidenreich’s phone being seized.
Mr Cuman denied having edited any of the photos or their metadata.
Marco Heidenreich gave evidence on Tuesday. (ABC Far North: Brendan Mounter)
At one point under cross-examination, Mr Cuman told defence barrister Greg McGuire that a question about the way he took one of the photos with Mr Heidenreich was “a bit silly”.
Mr McGuire then asked Mr Cuman whether he used a selfie stick, to which Mr Cuman replied that he did not.
Mr Cuman said he recalled Mr Heidenreich trying to call Ms Cordingley at the car park in the evening, after his dog Jersey went missing.
Under cross-examination, Mr Cuman told the court he would have been with Mr Heidenreich when Ms Cordingley sent a 3:17pm text message telling Mr Heidenreich she was going to pick up her friend Tyson from the airport that night.
Mr Cuman said he was unaware of the text.
Wangetti Beach in Far North Queensland, where Toyah Cordingley’s body was found. (ABC Far North: Brendan Mounter)
Missing dog turned up later
The court has heard Mr Heidenreich and Mr Cuman spent hours searching for one of Mr Heidenreich’s two dogs that evening, even visiting friends’ homes to borrow torches.
Toyah Cordingley’s father tells court of moment he found daughter’s body
“Jersey, his red heeler, I think she caught a scrub turkey, would be my guess,” Mr Cuman said.
“She went missing and we couldn’t find her.”
Some walkers found Jersey on the morning of October 23.
Monique Steele, a friend of Mr Cuman and Mr Heidenreich, told the court she and some others went to Spring Creek to look for the dog that morning in response to a Facebook post about Jersey having gone missing.
An audio recording of Marco calling for the dog was used to coax it out of the scrub, the court heard.
Ms Cordingley’s body was found on Wangetti Beach, north of Cairns. (ABC News: Eric Barker)
Selfie stick found on beach
The jury was also shown photographs of the crime scene, including the grave where Ms Cordingley’s body was uncovered the morning after her death.
Police forensic officer Sergeant Kylie Webster said there was also a “saturated” area of sand nearby where blood had penetrated deeper than 10 centimetres.
A branded selfie stick was also found in the area, the court heard, while a plastic glowstick was found next to Ms Cordingley’s body.
Items at the crime scene, including sticks, logs, Ms Cordingley’s bikini and the handle of the selfie stick, were swabbed for blood and DNA, as was the clothing Mr Heidenreich wore that day.
Ms Cordingley’s parents left the public gallery while the crime scene photos were shown to the court.
The trial before Justice Lincoln Crowley continues on Friday.