Undercover police officer recorded Rajwinder Singh in Cairns Watch House in 2023

A covert police recording of Rajwinder Singh has been played to the jury in the Toyah Cordingley murder trial, with Mr Singh saying he “ran for his life” after he saw her killed on the beach.

Toyah Cordingley's body was found buried in sand at Wangetti Beach near Cairns in 2018 after she went missing while walking her dog. Innisfail nurse Rajwinder Singh, 40, is on trial charged with the 24-year-old Cairns woman's murder.

A covert police recording of Rajwinder Singh has been played to the jury in the Toyah Cordingley murder trial, with Mr Singh saying he “ran for his life” after he saw her killed on the beach.

An undercover police officer who cannot be named posed as a cellmate in the Cairns watch house, the court was told.

He said he recorded a conversation between himself and Mr Singh on March 3, 2023.

The recording was played to the court on Tuesday in the trial of Mr Singh, a former nurse, 40, who has pleaded not guilty to the murder of Ms Cordingley on October 21, 2018.

“It happened in front of me and I ran for my life,” Mr Singh can be heard telling the officer.

“It happened on the beach here – Wangetti Beach – I don’t know the person who killed.

“I didn’t see their faces. The killers. I think they will kill me.”

The cop can be heard saying he had been arrested for fighting, before engaging Mr Singh in conversation about Innisfail, travel to India, Mr Singh’s life and faith, his children, his marriage and whether he follows the cricket.

Rajwinder Singh has pleaded not guilty to being charged with the murder of Toyah Cordingley. Illustrations: Julie Haysom

The three-hour recording, which was shortened to 40 minutes when the pauses and silences were removed, was indecipherable at times, with loud banging, and background noise from a radio that was tuned in to an NRL game.

Mr Singh repeatedly said he had “lost everything” and that “the police think I’m the killer”.

“I never raised my voice to anyone. I never raised my voice to anyone,” he said.

“I never had any trouble in life – they say I killed someone.”

The officer asked Mr Singh if the police thought he was the killer because he went to India.

“It was in the media in the news, and I saw it in the media because my car travelled to the beach.

“All the drivers of the cars … I was one of them, and I was missing, that put them on me,” Mr Singh said.

He told the officer he was there, walking on the beach that day.

“Nobody knows the truth. I told the truth to my lawyer and he said not to discuss the details because the case will go to trial. It is very hard. Very hard,” Mr Singh said in the recording.

“My job, my house and my kids … I lost everything.

“They have lost. I have lost.”

He asked Mr Singh if he had been to court yet and whether he thought he would “be in long”, to which Mr Singh replied – “probably”.

Toyah Cordingley's body was found buried in sand at Wangetti Beach near Cairns in October 2018 after she went missing while walking her dog.

In other DNA evidence given on Tuesday, the court heard DNA matching Mr Singh’s was detected on Ms Cordingley’s fingernails.

Testing carried out in a New Zealand laboratory found DNA from Ms Cordingley’s right fingernails was 310 times more likely to be Mr Singh’s than a person in the general population, the court was told.

Forensic scientist, Jayshree Patel, from the Institute of Environmental Science and Research Limited in New Zealand, said she received and tested six samples from the Forensic Science Queensland laboratory, obtained from Ms Cordingley’s left and right fingernails, one from Mr Singh’s sandshoe, and three from logs and sticks from the crime scene.

She said her team ran different tests to those run in Queensland, Y-STR, which can only be performed on male DNA, and compares 27 sites, and another called Mini-STR.

“We were asked to do specialist DNA testing (Mini-STR) … it is helpful for samples that might be degraded,” Ms Patel told the court.

Defence barristers Brydie Bilic and Angus Edwards leave the Cairns Supreme Court during a break in proceedings in the murder trial of Rajwinder Singh, who has pleaded not guilty to the murder of Toyah Cordingley on Wangetti Beach north of Cairns on October 21, 2018. Picture: Brendan Radke

The comparison between Mr Singh’s DNA and the fingernail DNA was repeated twice, with a 27/27 match returned in one test and a 26/27 match in another test, she said.

She said a partial sample taken from a log at the crime scene was also found to be a consistent with Mr Singh’s DNA but not with Ms Cordingley’s boyfriend, Marcus Heidenreich’s DNA.

Under cross examination by Angus Edwards KC, Ms Patel said the male sample portion from Ms Cordingley’s fingernails was “a small amount of genetic material” at 0.0017 of a billionth of a gram), which she later confirmed in re-examination was sufficient for the testing to be conducted.

Forensic Sciences Queensland team leader Rhys Parry said his team had tested and analysed samples lifted from clothing taken from Mr Singh’s house by the police three weeks after Ms Cordingley’s death.

Ms Cordingley’s DNA was not detected on the shirt or shorts that Mr Singh was seen wearing that day, nor was it found in his car.

Mr Parry said his team had also tested samples obtained from the laundry tub and washing machine at Mr Singh’s house.

Several of Ms Cordingley’s friends gave evidence on Tuesday that she had spoken about wanting to talk to Mr Heidenreich about their relationship.

Friend Sarah Broomhall, who was living overseas at the time, said she spoke to her friend a few days before her death.

Sarah Broomhall leaves the Cairns Supreme Court after giving evidence in the murder trial of Rajwinder Singh, who has pleaded not guilty to the murder of Toyah Cordingley on Wangetti Beach north of Cairns on October 21, 2018. Picture: Brendan Radke

“She (Ms Cordingley) wanted to take a step back, and that is what she was afraid of discussing with Marco,” Ms Broomhall said.

“She said he (Marco) very much loved the attention and affection she gave him and he would feel deprived and she was worried about the deprivation he would feel.

“She’d never been alone before and she was considering what life would look like.”

A former workmate of Mr Singh also gave evidence on Tuesday, agreeing with the assertion that he was “well-respected with the team and generally got along with women in the team”.

Originally published as Undercover police officer recorded Rajwinder Singh in Cairns Watch House in 2023