Rajwinder Singh to stand trial over the murder of Toyah Cordingley in North Queensland
Five years after Toyah Cordingley’s body found was on a North Queensland beach, the man accused of her murder will stand trial.
The man charged with the murder of 24-year-old Toyah Cordingley, five years after she was found dead on a North Queensland beach, will stand trial in 2024.
The Crown prosecution will allege in court that Rajwinder Singh killed Ms Cordingley while she was walking her dog on Wangetti Beach, about 40km north of Cairns, in October 2018.
The Indian national then boarded a flight to India the next day.
Queensland Police spent years trying to track Mr Singh down, including putting up a $1m reward for information about his whereabouts in connection to the shocking death.
He was found four years later and arrested in November 2022.
The process then began to extradite him from India to Melbourne in March this year before he was again extradited to Queensland, where he was charged with one count of murder.
It will be alleged in court that DNA evidence found at the scene linked Mr Singh to Ms Cordingley’s death.
When Mr Singh’s matter was briefly mentioned before Cairns Supreme Court on Thursday, Justice James Henry ordered his trial start on July 22, 2024.
Crown prosecutor Nathan Crane told the court that he expected the trial to run for two to three weeks.
Mr Singh’s defence barrister Matt Jackson said he’d received the brief of evidence, including two DNA statements.
He added the legal team may change ahead of the trial due to availability, which could mean more time was required to prepare the defence case.
Justice Henry said he would not grant Mr Jackson’s request to list the trial for a conditional date.
“It’s over six months away for the trial, that is in its own right a long time for any number of people to be briefed and rebriefed and prepare it seven times over,’ he said.
Following the extradition, Detective Inspector Sonia Smith said Ms Cordingley’s death “had an impact on everybody”.
Police and SES launched a widespread search after she was reported missing.
Ms Cordingley’s father discovered his daughter’s body on Wangetti Beach not far from where her dog had been found tied to a tree the day before.
Mr Singh, who previously worked as a nurse, has denied any involvement with Ms Cordingley’s death.
Speaking to media outlets in India before his extradition, Mr Singh maintained his innocence, telling reporters he did not murder the young woman.
He is yet to enter a formal plea.
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