• Man stabs young woman 26 times on Australian beach

• Caught after lengthy investigation

A jury on Monday convicted a former nurse for the murder of Toyah Cordingley, whose body was discovered seven years ago on a popular tropical beach in Australia.

Cordingley, 24, was stabbed at least 26 times while walking with her dog in October 2018. Her father found her body partially buried in sand dunes at Wangetti Beach, located between the tourist hotspots of Cairns and Port Douglas.

Rajwinder Singh, 41, fled to India the day after the discovery of the body and spent four years on the run. After a month-long trial, the jury returned a guilty verdict, with the courtroom filled with a mix of cheers and tears from those present.

This was Singh’s second trial, after a March trial ended with a hung jury.

Cordingley was well-known and loved in her local community, working at a health store and volunteering at an animal shelter, and her death caused widespread grief across Queensland.

The Cairns Supreme Court noted that the victim had been repeatedly stabbed and placed in a shallow sandy grave with little chance of survival.

Singh, originally from the Indian state of Punjab, was living in Innisfail, about two hours south of the crime scene, at the time of the killing.

Police had quickly identified Singh as a suspect, but he had left the country before the investigation began, leaving behind his wife, three children, and parents, which prosecutors cited as an indication of his guilt.

Evidence, including DNA analysis from a stick at the crime scene, showed it was billions of times more likely to belong to Singh than a random person. Additionally, the movements of Cordingley’s phone matched the movements of Singh’s car immediately after the attack.

Singh is scheduled to appear in court on Tuesday for sentencing.