Life behind bars: Sica’s prison link to Childers mass murderer

One of Queensland’s worst killers spends his days behind bars caring for geriatric prisoners, taking the job after another notorious killer lost the role.

Triple murderer Max Sica has earned himself a job as carer for geriatric prisoners, taking the job after another notorious killer lost the role.

The Courier-Mail can reveal Sica, one of Queensland’s worst killers, gained the position after Childers backpacker murderer Robert Long protested on top of the jail roof and was sent to the detention unit as punishment.

Sica, who murdered Neelma Singh, 24, her brother Kunal, 18, and sister Sidhi, 12, lives in the “cushy” residential section of Wolston jail near Brisbane.

He received Queensland’s largest sentence in history for the brutal murders with a 35-year non-parole period, making December 2043 his earliest release date.

Max Sica leaving the Brisbane District Court in Brisbane in 2012. (AAP Image/Dave Hunt)

As a carer Sica, 53, pushes elderly crims around in wheelchairs, takes them to medical appointments, gets prison paperwork for them and helps with cleaning their cell.

“He’s actually really good at it,” a prison officer told The Courier-Mail.

“He has perfect conduct. Part of it is I think he just wants an easy time.”

It can also be revealed that Sica has struck up a friendship with convicted cocaine importer Simon Golding who has also taken up a job as a carer.

Golding was jailed for 30 years in 2015, with a non-parole period of 18 years, for trying to import 400kg of cocaine.

Distraught friends lay flowers at the home where the bodies of sisters Sidhi, Neelma and Kunal Singh were found. Picture: Barry Pascoe

But he first came to attention when he was identified as being the sole crewmate of missing Coffs Harbour skipper Andrew Witton, who vanished in 2007.

At an inquest into Mr Witton’s death, Golding denied pushing him overboard the yacht – which was sailing from Tahiti to the Galapagos Islands – and said when he woke from his sleep he was gone.

Sica and Golding would each earn several dollars per day working as carers and could spend the money buying food at the prison canteen.

Shirley Singh with her children (L-R) Sonia Pathik and murdered children Sidhi, Kunal and Neelma.

“(They are) very calculated,” the officer said. “Neither of them go out of their way to talk to staff but they will if approached. Other crims leave them alone.”

Despite his sickening violent crimes, officers say Sica has never shown aggression on the inside and would have required good behaviour to move to the residential section of the jail and get a job.

The internet web page of Max Sica.

Years before the 2003 Singh murders, a prison psychologist in the 1990s deemed Sica as having psychopathic traits and “significant personality problems” when he was assessed for other offences.

Detective Superintendent Andrew Massingham, one of the lead investigators in the Singh murders, said Sica would be gaming the system to gain any advantage he could get.

“He has history of manipulating inside the jails,” Superintendent Massingham said.

“Before these homicides, there was evidence of him having relationships within jails where he was able to take advantage of certain things.”