‘We got him’: Toyah murder suspect set to ‘face the music’

The words ‘the community will never give up’ were printed on thousands of stickers after Toyah Cordingley’s death four years ago and now huge community efforts to deliver justice have culminated with the arrest of her suspected killer.

A bombshell development in the international hunt for the man suspected of the brutal murder of Cairns pharmacy worker Toyah Cordingley has come as a huge relief to a Cairns community desperate for justice.

Fugitive Rajwinder Singh is now behind bars after being arrested in New Delhi, India, on Friday.

Marked out as one man in a nation of 1.4 billion Mr Singh’s arrest comes weeks after a $1m reward was offered for information leading to the former Innisfail Hospital worker’s capture.

Posters printed for Indian circulation and a police WhatsApp hotline gave Indian nationals means and incentive to give up Mr Singh.

A special taskforce made up of police officers fluent in Hindi and Punjabi was formed to field calls through a police WhatsApp account.

Former Innisfail Hospital worker Rajwinder Singh has been arrested in India in relation to the death of Toyah Cordingley. Picture: Facebook

And in an unusual move reward conditions offered cash for information leading to Mr Singh’s capture, rather than a conviction.

Cordingley family spokesman Prong Trimble said news of the arrest came as a huge relief following tireless efforts to bring justice for Toyah.

“We got him,” he said.

Rajwinder Singh, leaving Australia, October 23, 2018.

“It makes me feel good … it’s been worthwhile and very satisfying, we said right from the start we would never give up and we didn’t.

“The extradition order is already in place and he will be on his way very soon to face the music in Australia.

In 2020 Wayne “Prong” Trimble organised for a signed Toyah poster to be presented to the family as the two-year anniversary of her murder passed. Picture: Stewart McLean

Queensland Police Commissioner Katarina Carroll said Mr Singh’s arrest had been a long time coming and she was confident detectives had a strong case to put before the courts.

“We are so thrilled to announce that the suspect in Toyah Cordingley’s murder has been arrested in India,” Ms Carroll said.

Ms Carroll could not give a timeline of Mr Singh’s extradition.

Cairns MP Michael Healy said he was pleased to say an arrest had been made in relation to the “absolute tragedy” of Ms Cordingley’s murder.

“We have been screaming for justice as a community as I know the family has been, this is something we have been waiting for, for a long time,” he said.

“Whilst nothing will bring back young Ms Cordingley to her family we know that due process is essential and that justice has to be served.”

If you are in #India please use the numbers on these posters pic.twitter.com/OpjXbzt79F

— Queensland Police (@QldPolice) November 4, 2022

In regard to the payout of the $1m reward Mr Healy said there was a strict process in place

and certain checks were needed, but once they were met the cheque would be signed.

“It’s very early days … there’s a process and we’re at the beginning of it,” he said.

Ms Cordingley was 24-years-old when she was attacked and killed on October 22, 2018, while walking her dog at the remote Wangetti Beach, north of Palm Cove.

The violent death of a young and innocent animal lover shocked and angered a tight-knit community but her death has also come to represent the loss of a woman that could be a next-oor neighbour, a daughter, or sister.

The alleged murder has become the embodiment of a lost Far North innocence.

Nine thousand Toyah bumper stickers were printed in 2018 by three Cairns-based print houses. Picture: Peter Carruthers

In the months following the alleged murder roadside banners were erected, fundraisers were held, a shrine was set up at Wangetti Beach and thousands of bumper stickers flooded Cairns declaring “the community will never give up”.

Immediately after Troy Cordingley discovered his daughter’s partially buried body on Wangetti Beach Mr Singh fled the country.

A large banner was erected in the wake of Toyah’s death on the Captain Cook Highway at Yorkeys Knob. Picture: Brendan Radke

The Indian national was last seen on Australian soil on October 23 at Sydney Airport where he boarded a plane for India.

For four years Australian authorities worked to negotiate the extradition of Mr Singh which was at long last granted by the Indian government in October.

Mr Singh is now behind bars three weeks after the posting of the seven-figure reward.

“He’s been arrested and they definitely won’t let him out of their sight,” Mr Trimble said.

TIMELINE OF EVENTS

2018, OCTOBER 21: Toyah Cordingley drives to Wangetti Beach, north of Cairns, to walk her dog, but does not return.

2018, OCTOBER 22: Her body is discovered in a shallow grave by her father.

2018, OCTOBER 23: Rajwinder Singh flies to India, departing Cairns and travelling through Sydney.

2018, NOVEMBER 1: More than 350 people attend Toyah’s funeral at a Cairns chapel.

2018, NOVEMBER 13: Toyah’s friend Wayne Trimble launches a plan to print 100,000 bumper stickers reading: “Toyah, the community will never give up.”

2018, NOVEMBER 19: Toyah’s mother, Vanessa Gardiner, makes a heart-wrenching appeal for public support to help find her daughter’s killer.

2022, MARCH: An extradition request is lodged with the Indian government for the return of Mr Singh to face a charge of murder.

2022, OCTOBER: The Indian government approves the extradition order.

2022, NOVEMBER 3: $1m reward offered for the capture of Mr Singh.

2022, NOVEMBER 25: Authorities announce Mr Singh’s arrest

Follow @petercarruther1

Originally published as ‘We got him’: Toyah murder suspect set to ‘face the music’