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The man accused of the murder of Far North Queensland woman Toyah Cordingley was "in the wrong place at the wrong time" when she suffered a "horrifically violent death", a court has heard.

The 24-year-old's body was found buried in a shallow, sandy grave at Wangetti Beach, north of Cairns, with multiple stab wounds and deep cuts.

Former Innisfail nurse Rajwinder Singh, 41, is standing trial over her death in October 2018.

Prosecutors allege Mr Singh murdered Ms Cordingley at the beach and took her phone from the scene, before leaving the country — and his family — for his native India.

In his opening address to the jury, defence barrister Greg McGuire described the frenzied killing as one that had to be carried out

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