Eight years on from her daughter’s brutal murder, Vanessa Gardiner still cannot give enough thanks to the police officers who never gave up in their hunt for the killer and are now firmly “part of the family”.
Rajwinder Singh was convicted in a retrial in December 2025 and sentenced to life imprisonment for 24-year-old Toyah Cordingley’s murder at Wangetti Beach north of Cairns in 2018 and is now awaiting an appeal.
Ms Cordingley’s mother rarely speaks publicly, but in an interview with the ABC, she described the close bond she had developed with the officers involved in the investigation.
“They still check up on me; make sure I’m doing OK. They’re amazing people,” Ms Gardiner said.
The family nominated three officers for a Queensland Homicide Victims’ Support Group (QHVSG) compassion in policing award.
Detective Sergeant Gary Hall, Senior Sergeant Katrina Clark and Detective Superintendent Sonia Smith were awarded at a recent ceremony at Parliament House in Brisbane.
Detective Sergeant Gary Hall, Senior Sergeant Katrina Clark and Detective Superintendent Sonia Smith with Police Minister Dan Purdie. (Supplied: Dan Purdie)
Ms Gardiner said she did not know how else to show her gratitude to the investigators who had worked “around the clock” on the case over “thousands and thousands of hours”.
“What else can you do to thank everyone for the almost eight years of work they’ve put in to achieve the right result this time after the mistrial?” she said.
“It’s not like you can just all have a barbecue together.”
Ms Gardiner commended how “truthful” the police had been when relaying “really, really hard” information in the long-running case.
“After almost eight years, they are part of the family,” she said.
Detective Superintendent Sonia Smith was a leading figure in the murder investigation. (ABC News: Conor Byrne)
Ms Gardiner described the agonising wait for a breakthrough in the case, which came in late 2022 after the offer of a record $1 million reward for information.
“Everything sort of came to a standstill and we just thought it was never going to happen,” she said.
“But [the police] said they would never give up and they didn’t. That meant everything.“
Lead investigator Detective Sergeant Gary Hall was one of the recipients of the award for compassion in policing. (ABC News: Conor Byrne)
Ms Gardiner said over the agonising course of two trials, she and her partner were picked up and dropped home every day and protected from the media.
“They were with us the whole time, just full-on support and they always have been,” she said.
‘Tiny little ray of sunshine’
The passage of time has not made it any easier for Ms Gardiner, who has become used to “putting on a poker face” to get through life.
But her daughter’s “bubbly laughter” is firmly entrenched in her memory.
“She was just a little ray of sunshine. Tiny little ray of sunshine with a beautiful smile and an unforgettable laugh. She just lit up the whole room,” she said.
Toyah Cordingley has been remembered for her love of animals. (Facebook: Toyah Cordingley)
Ms Gardiner revealed the reason her daughter had sometimes taken her dog to Wangetti Beach was to visit the remains of her cat Sally, which she had previously buried in the dunes.
Since her daughter’s death, Ms Gardiner has only visited the site a couple of times.
She still found it “eerie”.
What has helped, however, is the unwavering community support through gifts, bumper stickers, fundraising and a memorial built at Wangetti Beach.
Moreover, Ms Gardiner said it had been the police officers, too many to thank, with her every step of the way.
“People don’t recognise until they’ve been through something horrific what police actually do,” she said.
Rajwinder Singh’s appeal against his conviction and sentence has been listed for hearing in the Court of Appeal in Brisbane in October.
