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Jurors overseeing a high-profile Queensland murder trial have been taken to the isolated beach where the victim was discovered.

Toyah Cordingley was repeatedly stabbed with a sharp object and buried in a shallow grave with little or no hope of surviving, the jury has been told.

The remains were found by her father the following day on Wangetti Beach – a stretch of shoreline between the popular destinations of Cairns and Port Douglas.

The accused, 41, denies murdering Ms Cordingley on a weekend in October 2018 in northern Australia.

Court Inspection to Crime Scene

The jury of 10 men and two women plus three back-up jurors visited the beach along with the judge and legal counsel on the start of the week in Queensland.

In a nod to the tropical conditions and temperatures above 30C, the judge opted for a T-shirt, sport shorts and trainers rather than a wig and robes.

Both the lead prosecution and defence barristers chose polo shirts, shorts and headwear.

Location Details

The court members were guided around 1.2km along the beach to see where Ms Cordingley's body were discovered.

Earlier, as they traveled to the site, four markers indicated where the vehicle had been parked.

The trip was intended to help the panel become familiar with important sites in the trial and no testimony was presented.

Context of the Trial

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

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

State Case

It is claimed that the defendant, who was working as a nurse in the town of Innisfail, south of Cairns, had a confrontation with Ms Cordingley.

The pharmacy worker was discovered wearing a bikini, with her attire and most of her possessions missing.

Those items were removed by the assailant to avoid detection, the prosecution allege.

Her dog, Indie, which Ms Cordingley had taken to the beach for a walk, was located secured to a post concealed in shrubland about 100 feet from the burial site.

The weapon was found, and no eyewitnesses have been identified.

But the state says the evidence – though indirect – was comprised proof that pointed to Mr Singh "and eliminated others."

This will include testimony that genetic material obtained from a stick at the scene was extremely more probable to have originated from Mr Singh than a unrelated individual of the public.

The jury has already heard evidence suggesting that Ms Cordingley's phone left the scene after the incident – and that its movements corresponded with those of a vehicle belonging to the defendant.

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

Defence Stance

"As the police were finding Toyah's remains, he was organizing... a hurriedly arranged single journey back to India," Mr Crane said last week as he began arguments.

The defense is has not present any evidence, but in his opening address, the defense attorney the lawyer portrayed his defendant as a "placid" and "compassionate" man, who was in the "wrong place at the unfortunate moment."

He also foreshadowed evidence to come later in the trial that, after his apprehension, Mr Singh informed an undercover officer he had seen assailants attack Ms Cordingley and then had run away in terror – something he said was his "gravest error."

Mr McGuire has also said he will give evidence about individuals "identified and unidentified" who should come under suspicion.

Additional Testimony

Ms Cordingley's partner, the witness, whom authorities excluded as a person of interest, was one who gave evidence previously.

The trial was informed he was an initial police suspect – and that he had faced questions from Ms Cordingley's parent about whether he was involved in his girlfriend's vanishing, prior to her body were discovered.

Photographs depicting the witness on a hike with a companion on the date Ms Cordingley went missing have been presented to the jury, with an expert saying he was certain the pictures were genuine and had not been altered in any manner.

The case will resume to the more conventional setting of the courtroom on the next day.