The man accused of killing Toyah Cordingley has pleaded not guilty to murder at the start of his trial, more than six years after the young woman’s body was found at an isolated beach.
The supreme court of Queensland on Tuesday started hearing the case in Cairns, about 40km south of the alleged crime scene in the state’s far north.
Rajwinder Singh, a nurse from Innisfail, was charged in March 2023 with the murder of 24-year-old Cordingley.
Singh formally entered a plea for the first time on Tuesday and said “not guilty” when asked how he pleaded to the charge of murdering Cordingley on 21 October 2018.
The court took more than two-and-a-half hours to process a pool of hundreds of people to potentially serve as jurors.
Singh appeared with a beard and wearing a white turban and sat roughly in the middle of a dock built to hold up to six defendants at once.
The courtroom was full to overcapacity with potential jurors who listened to Singh be arraigned on the charge of murder and his plea.
Police accused Singh of fatally stabbing Cordingley at Wangetti beach, north of Cairns.
Cordingley drove to the beach for a Sunday afternoon walk with her dog on 21 October 2018.
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Her family raised the alarm later that evening when she did not return.
Her body was found half-buried in an isolated section of sand dunes about 800 metres from her car, which was parked in a camping ground at the beach’s southern end.
Jury selection for the trial before Justice James Henry was expected to continue on Tuesday.
