Doubt over footprint evidence in Max Sica trial

A forensic expert has told a jury she cannot be certain a footprint found at the scene of the murder of an Emirates air hostess was made by the man accused of killing her.

Dr Sara Jones, a podiatrist, was giving evidence in the trial of Max Sica, the Courier Mail reported.

She was quoted as telling the Supreme Court in Brisbane, Australia, the measurements she took could be consistent with a "lot of other people" as well as Sica.

Sica, 42, has pleaded not  guilty to murdering Dubai-based Neelma Singh, 24, and her siblings Kunal, 18, and Sidhi, 12, at the family’s Brisbane home on April 21, 2003.

The court saw a comparison chart between a left foot impression and Sica's left foot in which his measurements were within range of the imprint on seven variants.

A partial impression taken of a right foot at the scene was consistent with Sica's right foot on two variants.

Jones said it meant that Sica could not be excluded as the person who made the impression.

She said she had been shown a series of photographs of footprints taken from the base and on the internal staircase at the Singh house.

She added the first impression at the base of the steps was sufficient to get measurements of length and width.

The other four impressions were only partial of the toe and ball of the foot, because it was taken from someone walking up the stairs.

Jones also said she travelled to Brisbane in 2004 to examine Sica's feet and supervise tests. Sica was Neelma Singh’s ex-boyfriend and is accused of strangling her in a fit of jealousy and then killing her siblings. The bodies were dumped in a hot tub.

The trial continues.