Everything we know in Toyah Cordingley’s case so far

Former Innisfail nurse Rajwinder Singh first appeared in Cairns court in March when he was formally charged with the murder of Toyah Cordingley. So what’s happened with the case since then?

Former Innisfail nurse Rajwinder Singh, 39, first appeared in Cairns Magistrates Court on March 2 this year, when he was formally charged with the murder of Toyah Cordingley.

So what’s happened with the case since then, and what can we expect ahead of what will undoubtedly be one of the most high profile cases in Australian history?

Mr Singh was arrested in India on November 25, 2022, spent his first night behind bars in Australia when he was extradited to Melbourne on March 1.

He arrived in Cairns on a private charter jet.

Queensland Police escort Rajwinder Singh from a chartered jet to a waiting police car at Cairns Airport. He allegedly left Australia for India the day after Toyah Cordingley’s body was found at Wangetti Beach. Picture: Brendan Radke

On May 3 the case was handed up from Cairns Magistrates Court to Cairns Supreme Court, giving the Department of Public Prosecutions (DPP) six months – until November 4 – to present an indictment, which is a statement of the charges.

Mr Singh’s lawyers have been presented with a brief of evidence.

Fuller and White Solicitors principal Brittany White, a member of the Queensland Law Society Criminal Law Committee and the Legal Aid Queensland Industry Reference Group, said the defendant’s lawyers had the job of reviewing the brief of evidence to determine if there was a prima facie case, or if they could challenge the matter in the Magistrates Court.

Solicitor Brittany White, a member of the Queensland Law Society Criminal Law Committee and the Legal Aid Queensland Industry Reference Group, says a criminal case needs a strong tie to the jurisdiction the court is in. Picture: Supplied

“Obviously they have assessed there is a prima facie case and it has been committed to a higher court,” she said.

“That doesn’t mean the DPP can’t get more evidence further down the track.

“The next step after the indictment is the parties come to court and the defence says what they want to happen with the matter, it is very common, particularly with murder, to have it adjourned to confer with the client and for counsel to review further material,” she explained.

“When the defendant knows what they are doing, it gets listed for trial or sentence, but there may be pre-trial argument where the defence seeks to exclude evidence.”

Rajwinder Singh is being held at the high security remand centre, the Arthur Gorrie Correctional Centre, at Wacol in the western suburbs of Brisbane.

“Murder matters take a bit longer to be resolved,” she said.

She said it was usually about an eight month time frame and then space for a two to three week trial needed to be made in the court calendar.

Ms White said there could be an application to have the matter heard outside Cairns but it was unlikely.

Police, SES volunteers and members of the public participated in exhaustive searches of Wangetti Beach and the dense bushland behind it after the body of Toyah Cordingley was found. PICTURE: STEWART MCLEAN

“There needs to be a significant tie to the jurisdiction, most of the prosecution would be in the Cairns area, it would be a hard hurdle to be sent to another court,” Ms White said.

She said even when the indictment was presented, it would take time to get a trial date.

“I would anticipate something like this to take a lot longer – everyone is keen to get it on sooner rather than later, but particularly with murder trials, the wheels of justice turn slowly.”

Veteran solicitor Derek Perkins, principal of Cairns Criminal Lawyers, represented Mr Singh at court earlier this year.

Criminal lawyer Derek Perkins leaves the Cairns Magistrates Court saying Singh is “innocent until proven guilty”. Picture: Brendan Radke

But Fisher Dore principal lawyer Nick Dore confirmed himself and Cairns-based Fisher Dore lawyer Michael Dore would be the solicitors representing Mr Singh going forward.

Former principal crown prosecutor in Cairns and now consultant prosecutor in Brisbane Nathan Crane will lead the prosecution team.

Brisbane-based prosecutor Nathan Crane, formerly the principal crown prosecutor in Cairns, is expected to return to prosecute Rajwinder Singh, 39, who is accused of murdering Toyah Cordingley. Picture: Brendan Radke

He recently prosecuted Christopher William George Gaffney, who was sentenced to life for the gruesome death of his uncle.

Mr Crane prosecuted convicted murderers Matthew White, who killed Cooktown mother Donna Steele, and Gordonvale man Balwinder Singh Ghuman, who killed his wife and mother-in-law and tried to kill is father-in law in 2016, as well as Anthony McPhee, who stabbed Kay Dix to death at a Trinity Beach unit in 2018.

Mourners left floral tributes in the days after Toyah Cordingley’s death – there would be an unprecedented groundswell of community support with a bumper sticker campaign, large scale billboards and widespread pleas for information.

He also prosecuted Joshua James Richards, who got life in 2021 for murdering Dennis Beattie with a bow and arrow.

A conviction for murder has a mandatory penalty of life imprisonment with a non-parole period of 20 years.

Originally published as Everything we know in Toyah Cordingley’s case so far