Queensland Police ServiceA former nurse has been found guilty of murdering Toyah Cordingley, whose body was found on a famous tropical beach in Australia seven years ago.
Toyah Cordingley was stabbed at least 26 times while walking her dog on a Sunday afternoon in October 2018.
The 24-year-old’s body was found half-buried by her father in the dunes of Wangeti Beach, between popular tourist attractions Cairns and Port Douglas.
Rajwinder Singh, 41, fled to India the day after Cordingley’s body was discovered and remained on the run for four years. After a month-long trial, he was found guilty by a jury on Monday, prompting cheers and tears from the public in the courtroom.
This is Singh’s second trial after a trial in March that ended in a hung jury.
Ms Cordingley, a public health worker and animal shelter volunteer, was well known and much loved in her community and her death was met with sadness across the state of Queensland.
The Cairns Supreme Court heard Mr Coddingley had been stabbed “repeatedly” by sharp objects and was trapped in a shallow sandy grave with “little or no chance of survival”.
Singh, originally from the Indian state of Punjab, was living in Innisfail, a town about two hours south of the crime scene, at the time of the murder.
Detectives quickly identified him as a suspect, but he had already fled the country, leaving behind his wife, three children, and parents, the trial said.
gettyProsecutors argued this was an indication of his guilt. Although circumstantial, their case would show evidence that Singh “eliminated others,” the court ruled.
That evidence included DNA found on a stick at the scene, which was 3.8 billion times more likely to come from Singh than from a random member of the public. They also said Cordingley’s mobile phone movements matched the movements of Singh’s car shortly after the attack.
Singh is scheduled to return to court for a sentencing hearing on Tuesday.
