KEY POINTS:
The Kahui twins' brother Shayne is thriving with foster parents raising him in the countryside with traditional Maori values - but father Chris Kahui wants him back.
Shayne turned 3 this month, oblivious to the turmoil he was taken from after the killings two years ago and the
courtroom argument between mother Macsyna King and Kahui over who killed the twins.
Child, Youth and Family placed Shayne with artists Henare and Tawera Tahuri, members of Macsyna's wider whanau, who live on the East Coast.
Shayne speaks both English and Maori, loves to sing waiata and do the haka and is said to be "incredibly bright".
He was welcomed into the community with a powhiri.
He arrived there sickly with serious asthma, but it cleared up within three months in the country air and has not returned.
Shayne has a sibling-like relationship with baby cousin Cyene, also taken from the Mangere home by CYFS and placed in the custody of the Tahuris.
Cyene is the daughter of Stuart King and Mona Kahui - Macsyna's brother and Kahui's sister.
Mr Kahui initially blamed Shayne, then aged 1, for inflicting the fatal injuries on the twins. Now acquitted of murdering the twins, the father wants Shayne back.
Mona Kahui also wants custody of Cyene. Both have made several visits in the past two years.
Macsyna has seen Shayne once since the murders.
The Tahuris declined to comment.
Both are trained teachers who now work full-time in the art field, sending Shayne and Cyene to a kohanga reo.
They have other children, but treat the pair as their own.
Mr Tahuri is a member of Whangara Mai Tawhiti, the 2007 champion kapa haka group, and his mentor is the artist Derek Lardelli, who devised the All Blacks' new haka Kapo o Pango.
Mr Tahuri's artist biography describes him as "a loyal and dedicated man who is wise beyond his years and who takes a lead role whenever the need arises".
Mrs Tahuri is also involved in art and runs a homegrown fashion show.
A CYF spokeswoman said any discussion regarding Shayne and Cyene would be held privately with the family, not through the media.
MACSYNA'S 6 KIDS
* Son Kzchian, 13, and daughter Nikora, 11, Raised by father Kevin Te Kahu in Napier since Macsyna abandoned them in 2001.
* Daughter Keani, 8, Also deserted by Macsyna in 2001 following their kidnapping at gunpoint by Gerald Ashby. Cared for by Ashby's mother while he served a subsequent jail sentence. Now back in his care in Napier, occasionally seeing half-siblings who live nearby.
* Shayne Kahui, 3, Taken into CYF custody after the twins were killed. Macsyna has seen him only once in two years.
* Chris Kahui and Cru Kahui, killed. Would now be two years old.
