Rajwinder Singh found guilty of murder of Toyah Cordingley
A former nurse who fled Australia has been jailed after murdering a young woman and abandoning her body in a shallow grave.
A former nurse has been sentenced to life in prison after he was found guilty of the murder of Toyah Cordingley, with justice being served seven years after her death.
The 24-year-old’s body was found by her father on 22 October 2018, half buried in the sand dunes at Wangetti Beach, approximately 40 kilometres north of Cairns.
A jury found Rajwinder Singh, 41, repeatedly stabbed Ms Cordingley and slashed her throat at the remote beach before burying her in a shallow grave.
Singh pleaded not guilty to the murder at the month-long trial in Cairns.
An animal shelter volunteer and an organic food store worker, Ms Cordingley’s death prompoted an outpouring of grief, and she was described as “gentle, humble and loving”.
The jury deliberated for approximately seven hours before returning the unanimous verdict.
On Tuesday, Singh was sentenced to life imprisonment.
He will be eligible for parole after 25 years has been served.
Police focused their attention on Singh soon after Ms Cordingley’s body was found, with DNA discovered on a stick at the crime scene found to be 3.8 billion times more likely to have come from him rather than a random member of the public.
However, it would be years before he would be arrested after he fled to India the day her body was found, leaving behind his wife, three children and parents in the North Queensland town of Innisfail.
He spent four years on the run before being arrested in New Delhi in November 2022, just weeks after the Queensland government announced a $1 million reward for information, the largest reward in the state’s history.
Queensland Police confirmed the reward was paid to a number of people.
“We appreciate the significant public interest in this matter, however, information provided on the process is limited as it is obtained on a confidential basis,” police had said.
“As such we will not reveal specifics of the reward only to advise it has been paid in full to a number of claimants.”
Originally published as Rajwinder Singh found guilty of murder of Toyah Cordingley
