Sica sent nude photos of girlfriend to family: court
Amelia Bentley
August 26, 2009
The murdered Singh siblings, from left, Neelma, 24, Kunal, 18, and Sidhi, 12. Photo: Supplied
Accused killer Max Sica gave his then-girlfriend Neelma Singh drugs before taking nude photographs of her and emailing them to her family and friends, a court has heard.
Archana Pathik, the elder sister of Neelma, Kunal and Sidhi Singh whom Sica is charged with murdering in their home in 2003, began her evidence at a committal hearing in Brisbane Magistrates Court yesterday.
Dressed in a black suit and wearing black high heels, Mrs Pathik said she "never liked" Sica, who Neelma sought a restraining order against in a bid to get him to "stay away".
She said Neelma told her Sica admitted he was the one who emailed the nude photographs to her family and friends in late 2002.
She said Neelma confided that she used cocaine given to her by Sica before the photos were taken.
She said Neelma also told her that when her relationship with Sica broke down, he would hide behind a portable toilet on a property under construction near the Singh's home in Grass Tree Court, Bridgeman Downs, and watch their house.
"She was fearing, she was scared he was going to do something to her," Mrs Pathik told the court.
"She said he wanted to keep a close eye. He would park his car and walk and try and monitor the house and monitor movements at the house."
Sica's defence barrister Sam Di Carlo asked Mrs Pathik during cross-examination if she liked Sica.
"I never liked him," she said.
"Even from the beginning?" Mr Di Carlo asked.
"That's right," she said.
Mrs Pathik said it was Sica who phoned to tell her that Neelma, 24, Kunal, 18 and 12-year-old Sidhi were dead.
She said the news caused her to have a "severe asthma attack" and she believed Sica knew she suffered bad asthma and intended to trigger an attack.
"Because he's done that before," she said.
Mrs Pathik said when Sica made the call a police officer took his phone off him "because he was not meant to make that phone call".
Mr Di Carlo asked Mrs Pathik "Do you really really hate Max? Are you prepared to say anything to destroy him?"
Mrs Pathik replied "I choose not to answer that question".
Earlier yesterday Mrs Pathik gave evidence her sisters were scared in the days leading up to their murder.
She said when she saw her sister on April 18 2003, three days before the siblings' murder, Neelma was complaining of an injured arm which she was "really distressed" about.
"She said she slept on it, but I know my sister," she said.
"She kept holding onto her arm - I asked Sidhi (about it). She had a massive look of fear on her face."
When the family went to play soccer in a Brisbane park, Neelma kept "looking around, there was something there they were not disclosing to me".
At about 8pm on Easter Sunday Mrs Pathik said she was chatting to Neelma on an online chat site but the conversation ended when Neelma wrote "Someone is at the door, I have to go".
She told the court she tried to phone the family home the next day, Easter Monday, but got no answer.
During her evidence, Mrs Pathik asked Magistrate Brian Hine to direct Sica's barrister Sam Di Carlo not to smile at her.
"Could the defence please stop making faces and smiling. Mr Sam Di Carlo. And the public, thank you," she said, referring to sniggers coming from Sica's family in the public gallery.
Mr Di Carlo stood and objected.
"As far as I'm concerned whatever her name is, Archana, should compose herself. It's her behaviour, not mine, which needs to be questioned," he said.
Mrs Pathik, who did not live at the family home and was given the responsibility of being her siblings' "shadow" while her parents were away in Fiji on business at the time of the deaths, will continue her evidence this morning.
Notes.....Who was at the door 8pm Easter Sunday night 2003? Why did Archana not call her sister back that night? When Archana called on Monday and kept on getting no answer, was she not worried about her siblings? (especially when she says that her sisters were scared days before their muders, and Sidhi had a massive look of fear on her face when asked about Neelma`s sore arm) Why did she not call them on Tuesday and see if all was ok?
When Archana was asked by defence if she really hated Max and was prepared to say anything to destroy him, she chose not to answer that question. She also says that she hated Max from the very beginning.
About Neelma saying to her that she took drugs before those nude photos were taken of her, well in my opinion and if she (Neelma) actually did say that at all, she only did so as not to make it seem like she would have doneso otherwise. Neelma had actually phoned a member of the Sica family about the nude photos and never once mentioned she had taken drugs supplied to her by Max. You would think that she would have stated that particular detail, at least i would.
Even though Archana says Neelma told her that Max had admitted emailing the photos, Neelma continued seeing Max. Neelma did have a sore arm and on Thursday 17th April 2003 (5 days before murders discovered) she rung Max and asked if he could bring her some pain killers for a sore arm. Max`s father gave him some to bring to her and they were found at the Singh residence.
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Mr V.J. Singh took his daughter Neelma with him to the Stafford Police Station to make a complaint about Max Sica. (this was not long after the confrontation he had with Sica in his home) In that taped confrontation Mr Singh is heard saying to Sica, "just you wait, you dont know what im capable of, you will see, you`re gonna get it"
The officer in his statement says that Mr Singh was doing all the talking and that his daughter seemed like she did not want to be there, he also says that when he asked to look at the text messages sent to her by Max, he found them to contain nothing threatening or allarming. Mr Singh also told the officer that he would be leaving the country and that he feared for his daughters safety etc, the officer had asked Mr Singh if he had neighbours which could keep an eye on his children to which he responded no. etc etc etc. Like i have already stated on this blog, if you as a parent, would think your children would be in any danger at all and from whatever or whomever, why would you leave them at all? I am a parent and i understand that people dont all think alike, but i would never leave my children if i would think such a thing. Mr Singh had also recieved threatening phone calls from Fiji, on these calls you can hear two men saying they know where his family lives and that he had f**** with their families and now they would f***** with his. Rape his daughters kill his family etc etc. He did not mention that to the officer at all.
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Socked foot impressions with some amount of bleach found not on the 22nd of April but apparently some days later at crime scene. Max Sica`s footprints taken a year later. Alleged murder weapon found in garage, again not on the 22nd April but days later by Det Zitny.
Coroner states children could have died anywhere from three days up until few hours before they were found.
Police BELIEVE children died late Easter Sunday night early Monday morning. Max was asleep in his bed on Sunday night and from 7am Monday morning up until discovery of murders even police acknowledge that Max has firm alibi. In my opinion police continue saying they believe they died then because it is the only time Max (in their eyes) had no strong alibi, even though family members saw Max at home and in his bedroom.
When police questioned Mr Anil Lala, (an ex-boyfriend of Neelma`s and the person who had sent text wanting to meet with Neelma on the Easter Monday morning behind his old house) he told police he too was sleeping in his bed on Sunday night and that his parents were in their room and they were fine with what he told them.
On the Easter Monday night around 830pm and around 5 past midnight on Tuesday morning, people who lived near the Singh residence reported hearing screams and one woman in particular said she heard a bone chilling scream (from what seemed a young woman), that lasted around 3 to 4 minutes at around 5 past midnight Tuesday morning, she said it frightened her so much that she woke her husband and told him to look downstairs. She told this to police the day after the discovery of the murders.
Two women at 5.30am on Tuesday morning were taking a walk and saw a man walking down towards them from near the Singh residence, they stated that when this man looked up and saw them, he turned and ran the other way and jumped a fence. These women gave police a description of this man, the description was not of Max Sica.
A man by the name of Paul Surri was working in the area at that time, he had told police he had seen the youngest sibling (Sidhi Singh) outside the front door of her home on the Easter Monday, police told him he must have been mistaken, but he was adamant he saw her then and stated this in court at committal.
A friend of Kunal Singh (Jaga) went to police and conjured up a story about seeing Max with Kunal`s body over his shoulder on the Easter Sunday night at the Singh residence. Mr Jaga was made police informant and over the course of about 3 and a half months later, police started to question the validity of what Mr Jaga was telling them. He then confessed it was all a lie, he was never charged with obstruction of justice or purjury. At committal he had his rights (as not to incriminate himself) and answered questions put to him by defence with, "i do not wish to answer".
Ms Bowman (who police allege had her own reasons and agenda`s for getting involved in this case and never worked for them) went to police shortly after discovery of murders and told them she knew Max (even though she had not seen him in nearly 10 yrs prior to this) and got involved.
You can never judge a book by its cover as you cannot judge a case based upon sensational media headlines and testimonies based on hearsay.
