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Rajwinder Singh Convicted of Toyah Cordingley’s 2018 Murder After Cairns Retrial

Sentencing submissions begin Tuesday, with prosecutors urging a longer non-parole period.

Overview

  • The jury returned a unanimous guilty verdict after about seven hours at the end of a four-week retrial that followed an earlier hung jury.
  • Prosecutors presented DNA on a stick that experts said was 3.8 billion times more likely to be Singh’s than anyone else’s, along with phone and car movement data.
  • Singh left Australia within a day of the killing, was arrested in New Delhi in November 2022, and was extradited to Australia in 2023 after a A$1 million reward generated leads.
  • Cordingley, 24, was found half-buried in dunes at Wangetti Beach by her father, who also discovered her dog alive and tied to a tree, prompting community rallies against violence toward women.
  • At Tuesday’s hearing, family members delivered victim impact statements as the Crown sought a 25-year non-parole period on the mandatory life sentence, while the defence argued for the 20-year minimum.