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Home / Aucklander / Lifestyle

Murder of twins still a mystery

By Kristin Edge
Reporter·The Aucklander·
20 Oct, 2011 04:00 PM3 mins to read

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Don't expect to know who murdered twin baby brothers Chris and Cru Kahui after reading one of the most controversial books printed in New Zealand.



Some retailers have refused to stock Breaking Silence after thousands of people joined a Facebook page named Boycott Macsyna earlier this year.

Macsyna King, mother of four living children, outlines the terrible events that lead to the death of her babies and she squarely points the finger at the children's father, Chris Kahui.

Author and investigative journalist Ian Wishart says the 34-year-old mother "tells a story that is personal yet generic".

Wishart intertwines King's life story with a great deal of new evidence about the twins and material from court hearings, including depositions, a double murder trial and an inquest.

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King says she wasn't silent for five years by choice but could not speak up until the court proceedings were complete.

"People who don't know me presume to know everything about my case," she says.

"As a police witness in the trial of my former partner Chris Kahui, it was made clear to me that my side of the story was sub judice - that I could not really speak up until the end of proceedings."

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It's a sad story about growing up in poverty, a series of missed opportunities for an obviously bright girl and a downward spiral. It outlines her relationship with Kahui.

He was 16 when they first met and she was 10 years older.

They had their first child together when Kahui was 18 - he was King's fourth child to three different men.

Then came the twins. King discovered she was pregnant while the couple were split from each other and she admitted to having a few casual flings.

Paternity was questioned. However, DNA results showed Kahui was the father.

Chris Arepa and Cru Omeka Kahui were born on March 20, 2006, at 29 weeks, by emergency caesarean.

Barely three months later, they were subjected to serious violence and suffered brain damage.

Kahui was charged with murdering his sons but was found not guilty after a jury trial in which he elected not to give evidence.

However, he was made to take the stand during the coroner's inquest and Wishart highlights the inconsistency in his evidence.

You can't help but wonder what the verdict might have been had Kahui taken the stand during his criminal trial and a Crown lawyer had the chance to question him. Wishart pieces together the evidence in his best version of events and introduces evidence not heard at trial or during the coroner's inquest.

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He is so bold as to suggest Middlemore Hospital may be "covering up" some of their treatment of the twins.

Is this the true version of events or just King's rose-tinted perspective?

Sometimes King's story just doesn't ring true.

New Zealanders now have an opportunity to judge for themselves and make their own decision about the validity of King's story.

A positive is maybe the book can be a valuable tool in furthering the discussion in this country about child abuse.

Someone knows who murdered those defenceless babies.

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But for now, the truth remains a mystery.

The most important question New Zealand society needs an answer to is: "How can we stop this from happening again?"

Breaking Silence: The Kahui Case - Macsyna King and the real story of the murder of her twins,

by Ian Wishart,

Howling at the Moon Publishing, $39.99

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