A former nurse has been sentenced to serve a minimum of 25 years in prison for the murder of Toyah Cordingley, whose body was found on a secluded beach seven years ago.

Rajwinder Singh, aged 41, received a life sentence after being convicted of murder by a jury in the Supreme Court of Cairns. This verdict followed a four-week retrial.

Singh brutally attacked Cordingley, repeatedly stabbing her and cutting her throat at a remote Queensland beach in October 2018, before escaping to India where he remained in hiding for several years.

The body of the 24-year-old Cordingley was discovered partially buried in the sand dunes at Wangetti Beach, north of Cairns, by her father. This tragic discovery occurred the day after she went missing while walking her dog.

The jury reached their decision after approximately seven hours of deliberation, delivering a guilty verdict yesterday.

Singh’s first trial ended in a hung jury eight months ago.

Cordingley had taken her dog to Wangetti Beach on October 21, 2018.

Her family raised the alarm when she didn’t return before her father made the grisly discovery the next morning about 80m from her car.

Police claimed Cordingley had died after “a personal and intimate attack”.

Soon after the body was found, Singh, a nurse from Innisfail about 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.

A record $1 million reward was offered by Queensland Police in late-2022 for information leading to the location and arrest of runaway suspect Singh.

Weeks later, Singh was arrested in New Delhi and he was extradited to Australia and charged with murder in March 2023.

Queensland Police later confirmed the $1 million reward had been paid to a number of people.