Inside the investigation that led to Max Sica's conviction for Singh siblings' murder

FOR investigators, the only thing worse than the images that confronted them in the Singh family home was the prospect of the killer getting away with it.

IT WAS as if Lord Shiva - the Hindu god Shirley and Vijay Singh worship - had led police to the weapon used to murder their three children.

In the house of horrors that confronted police, a religious trident initially looked like it may have been used to kill siblings Neelma, Kunal and Sidhi.

How the Max Sica trial unfolded day-by-day

Later investigators confirmed a similar garden fork was the likely weapon - but it was as if Shiva's trident pointed the officers in the right direction.

Photographs of the trident - used symbolically by Shiva to destroy evil - and the fork were tendered to the Supreme Court during Queensland's longest murder trial.

Approved for release by the court alongside other images, they provide an insight into the scenes that confronted investigators and the methods used to track the killer.

Last Tuesday the Singhs gave thanks to Shiva when their former neighbour Massimo "Max" Sica was convicted on three murder counts and sentenced to a record minimum 35 years in jail.

Sica, 42, who was arrested in December 2008, maintains his innocence and plans to appeal.

Crime scene pictures, and inside the mind of Max Sica, in The Sunday Mail print and iPad editions

For investigators, the only thing worse than the awful images that confronted them in the Singh family home was the prospect of the killer getting away with it.

As months and then years passed without an arrest, they wrestled with self-doubt over whether they could have done more, reveals former investigation head Bryan Paton.

All the trauma of the case came flooding back when he saw a trembling Mrs Singh attempt, and fail, to find words to describe her loss after the verdict.

"That grief was as real for her yesterday as it was on the first day. I witnessed it day after day, week after week, month after month. How can you not be affected by it?" Mr Paton told The Sunday Mail.

"I do get emotional. It creeps up on me every now and again. It just had such an impact on our lives."

At the same time, he adds: "I don't think I ever lost my objectivity."

Outside court after the verdict, Detective Senior Sergeant Joe Zitny, the lead detective who worked the case from start to finish, said it was an "overwhelming experience".

Mr Paton received word in late 2004 that the Singh major investigation room was to be disbanded. The Singh parents complained to Commissioner Bob Atkinson and were told there was no guarantee he would return to the case.

While on leave, Mr Paton suffered a major loss of eyesight during an operation, leading to his retirement on medical grounds.

He had no contact with the Singhs for more than seven years, until last Thursday when he quietly slipped into courtroom 15 on level three of the George St court complex to see Sica jailed until he is at least 73 years of age.

Vijay and Shirley Singh saw Mr Paton at court and gave him a hug and prosecutor Brendan Campbell left the bar table to shake his hand.

"What affected people more was the fact they committed to it, they gave it everything," Mr Paton says. "When it was coming towards an end we realised we're not going to have any sort of closure. I think that can be just as difficult as dealing with some images they might have of the crime scene."

The sprawling Singh home remained a crime scene for a month, the longest in the state. At trial, the jury was told bleach had been used to destroy forensic evidence.

The court was also told DNA consistent with each of the murdered siblings was found on the garden fork's tines. Foot impressions from a saturated sock in bleach on an internal staircase may have been Sica's, an expert testified.

The jury wasn't told Sica had an extensive criminal history for offences including arson and is awaiting trial on child sex abuse charges.

A Justice Department spokesman said Sica was scheduled to face trial in November on 21 charges, including rape and indecent treatment, involving a child under 16 years of age.