Rajwinder Singh found guilty by jury of murdering Toyah Cordingley at Wangetti Beach
In emotional statements the parents of Toyah Cordingley have spoken about the heartbreak of losing their daughter and how Rajwinder Singh will never be forgiven for his horrific crime. WATCH THEIR REACTIONS.
Rajwinder Singh has been found guilty of the savage murder of Toyah Cordingley on a remote stretch of Wangetti Beach north of Cairns in October 2018.
After seven years, two trials, the payout of a million-dollar reward, more than four years on the run in India, evidence from more than 70 witnesses, and 7½ hours of deliberations, the nine-man, three-woman jury returned a guilty verdict on Monday.
On hearing the jury’s verdict, people in the public gallery cheered with relief, before muffled sobs could be heard coming from Ms Cordingley’s friends and family.
Ms Cordingley’s father, Troy Cordingley, yelled out a clear message to Singh.
“Rot in hell, you bastard,” he said, as Singh sat motionless in the dock.
In the hallway outside the court, three cheers rang out with applause, and members of the public gallery including police officers embraced one another in relief.
The 41-year-old former nurse from Innisfail pleaded not guilty on day one of the trial, and has now been convicted in the Cairns Supreme Court on day 20 of his trial.
Ms Cordingley, a 24-year-old pharmacy worker and animal shelter volunteer was murdered at a remote beach north of Cairns on October 21, 2018.
Her mother Vanessa Gardiner, who was also at the beach that day, and found her daughter’s dog tied to a tree 30 metres from her body before it was found, gave a brief statement to waiting media outside court.
“This event turned our world upside down for years, and we all know a special part of our fun, tight knit family is now gone forever,” she said.
“We are different people now because of this tragedy.
“Some days it is still hard to believe she is no longer here physically with us and the horrendous way she was taken from us.
“For us as a family we will never forget (a) loveable, innocent, full-of-life young woman and we will always wonder what could have been if her life was not cut so short.
“As far as the person who committed this murder and inflicted a horrible death on our daughter, you will never be forgiven by us.
“I would like to say there are multiple victims in this, Marco (Ms Cordingley’s boyfriend) for one, and then this man’s wife, Sukhdeep Kaur, for whom we hold no malice towards, as her and her children are merely more collateral damage from this man’s actions.”
Ms Gardiner thanked the Cairns community involved in the “never give up” bumper sticker campaign as well as the Queensland Police and the Crown’s legal team.
“From the general public and our friends, we wish to acknowledge Prong Trimble, Dwayne Cash, Cameron Donaghy, Steven Parsonage, Jane Martin, Sol Daly, Kerry Bos, Tony Gordon and all the SES volunteers involved and so many more people and businesses right down to those who displayed stickers on their cars, shopfronts and wore Toyah wristbands,” she said.
Outside the court reading from a prepared statement, Mr Cordingley said the verdict had been a “long time coming”.
“We would like to thank the jury for their verdict,” he said.
We also thank the (Director of Public Prosecutions), especially Nathan Crane and Hannah McNeale, for their diligence and persistence.
“We thank the community as a whole for their support.
“Today’s verdict has delivered a form of justice, but for us, it can never be true justice as we now live in a world without Toyah and the world is a poorer place for it. Toyah will always be alive in our hearts and in the hearts of a great many others.
“We ask that you please respect our privacy.”
Detective Superintendent Sonia Smith who has been involved with the investigation since from the start also delivered a statement outside the court.
“I stood in front of the media more than seven years ago and assured the people of Far North Queensland, that we would remain steadfast in our determination to find and bring Toyah’s killers before the courts,” she said.
“This investigation has been one of the largest and most complex in Far North history
“Our appeals to the public resulted in more than 1400 calls to Policelink and Crimestoppers.
“Detectives analysed over 1000 hours of CCTV and dashcam footage. Hundreds of police were involved in this investigation.
“They completed more than 3000 investigative tasks, and the investigation saw the first ever $1 million reward granted, the highest amount in Queensland.
“This team has worked tirelessly and remain committed to this extensive investigation.
“The international extradition and the judicial process.
“They have made significant sacrifices to their personal lives to ensure that no stone was left unturned in this investigation.
“I’d also like to thank you, the media, for your assistance and respecting the process that we’ve had to follow.
“Toyah’s murder has left a deep scar in our community (and) we are a tight knit community in Far North Queensland.
“Most importantly, I would like to acknowledge Toyah’s family and friends, particularly her mum Vanessa and her dad, Troy.
“Words cannot articulate the pain and hurt that they have endured over the last seven years.
“Yet they have shown incredible resilience and continue to put their faith in police to deliver justice for their daughter.”
This is the second time the 41-year-old has been tried for Ms Cordingley’s murder; his first trial in March this year ended in a hung jury with jury members unable to reach a verdict.
The court was told during the trial Ms Cordingley was “almost decapitated” and stabbed more than 26 times in the brutal attack, for which no motive has ever been established.
Ms Cordingley and Singh were described in the trial as strangers to one another.
There were no eyewitnesses to the crime.
The largely circumstantial crown case was built on the “stacking” of evidence, prosecutor Nathan Crane said.
The jury was told about the movements of Singh’s blue Alfa Romeo car “in tandem” with Ms Cordingley’s mobile phone after she had died and his sudden flight from Australia to India the day her body was found.
The jury also heard DNA was extracted from sticks found on Ms Cordingley’s beach grave and was found to have a high likelihood of belonging to Singh.
Thousands of hours were spent on the case, with teams of searchers, police officers, blood dogs, undercover operatives, experts, and Federal Police collecting, analysing and interpreting evidence in the case.
Singh will be sentenced at 10am on Tuesday.
Originally published as Rajwinder Singh found guilty by jury of murdering Toyah Cordingley at Wangetti Beach
