Online tributes also poured in for Toyah, who had volunteered at an animal shelter, thanking her for caring so much for her “fur babies”.
About 350 people packed into a small chapel in the Cairns suburb of Manunda two weeks later for her funeral.
Family friend David County officiated, urging those gathered to remember Toyah how she lived, rather than how she died.
People around Australia paid tribute to Toyah Cordingley by planting sunflower seeds.Credit: Facebook – Daniel Stocker
A message from Toyah’s father Troy Cordingley was read out – the message saying he lacked the words to describe the horror of having his girl taken from him.
Shortly after Toyah’s body was found, Rajwinder Singh, a 38-year-old nurse from Innisfail, an hour’s drive south of Cairns, departed Australia.
He boarded a flight to India, the country of his birth, leaving behind his wife and three children.
In March 2021, the federal government would approve an extradition warrant for Singh.
It was issued by police over their suspicion he had fatally stabbed Toyah at Wangetti Beach as she walked her dog.
On November 3, 2022, the Queensland government announced the largest reward in the state’s history for Singh’s location and arrest.
The $1 million payout was offered to anyone, anywhere in the world and widely advertised across India, where the reward was equivalent to more than 140 times the average yearly salary.
Three detectives travelled to India ready to follow any leads.
In a video statement, Toyah’s mother Vanessa Gardiner desperately hoped the money would bring a result.
“I can’t believe it’s a million dollars but Toyah deserves that, she deserves every bit of it,” Gardiner said.
Singh was arrested by Indian authorities in Delhi three weeks later.
Queensland Police confirmed the $1 million reward had been paid to a number of people.
Accused wants to ‘reveal all the details’ in court
Singh appeared in an Indian court on January 7, 2023, having exchanged his clean-shaven look while in Australia for a long beard and turban.
He insisted he wouldn’t fight extradition, saying he had a “message for Australians”.
“I want to go back. It is the [Indian] judicial system that has been holding things up,” he said outside the Delhi court.
“I did not kill the woman,” he said, adding that he wanted to “reveal all the details” in an Australian court.
That March, Singh appeared before a magistrate in Cairns.
Toyah Cordingley with her father Troy.Credit: Facebook
People turned up with signs and placards in support of Toyah while Singh was remanded in custody.
Prosecutors previously told the court they had DNA and telephone evidence linking Singh to Toyah’s death, a claim that would finally be put to the test with Singh to stand trial in the Queensland Supreme Court in Cairns from Tuesday.
The trial was expected to take between four and five weeks.
Troy Cordingley on Wangetti Beach where he found his daughter’s body.Credit: Facebook
A judge overseeing the pre-trial motions described the prosecution’s case as circumstantial, with no direct evidence Singh killed Toyah.
A circumstantial case means prosecutors will have to prove Singh committed murder and that there is no other reasonable explanation that would show his innocence.
Like any other defendant on trial in Australia, Singh is presumed to be innocent unless convicted and will not be required to give evidence himself unless he chooses to.
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