A former nurse who booked a flight to his native India the day after a young woman's body was found buried in sand on a North Queensland beach.

The father who found his daughter's body.

The boyfriend with whom she shared a love of animals, a house and bookshelf full of books about dogs.

This week, all three men have been inside the Supreme Court in Cairns.

Rajwinder Singh, described by his lawyer as a "placid" and "caring" man, is on trial for the violent death of Cairns woman Toyah Cordingley.

Toyah Cordingley, 24, whose body was found at Wangetti Beach, north of Cairns, in Far North Queensland on October 22, 2018. (Facebook: Toyah Cordingley)

The 24-year-old animal shelter volunteer's body was found buried in sand at Wangetti Beach, on the morning of October 22, 2018, peppered with stab wounds and deep cuts to her throat.

The Case Of Toyah's Murder Listen back to how Rajwinder Singh's trial unfolded and all the key moments from the courtroom with the ABC's podcast, The Case Of Toyah's Murder.

Police believe she was killed the previous afternoon on the tropical beach, north of Cairns, in a confrontation nobody saw or heard.

Prosecutors have told a jury they will rely on a combination of circumstantial evidence — mobile phone tower data, traffic camera footage, DNA profiles and a hurried one-way trip to India — to demonstrate Rajwinder Singh murdered her.

Mr Singh, 41, has pleaded not guilty.

Mr Singh is on trial for Ms Cordingley's murder.