KEY POINTS:
Nai Yin Xue could be back in New Zealand within days, if US authorities agree to his immediate extradition.
A US Customs and Immigration officer, speaking on Sky News, said it was possible Xue could be back In New Zealand by next week, if US government officials could
reach agreement with New Zealand police over his extradition.
Detective Senior Sergeant Simon Scott said Xue's extradition had to be completed within about 45 days, but he said extradition procedures were already well underway.
The Chinese martial arts expert was caught this morning, after five months on the run for allegedly killing his wife in Auckland, and abandoning his daughter Qian Xun Xue in Melbourne.
Madame Liu, who is looking after Qian Xun Xue, was told of the arrest this morning.
US police said he was busted when locals who recognised him hogtied the 53 year-old with his own trousers and belt.
There was no evidence of his purported martial arts expertise, police said.
Prime Minister Helen Clark says she was pleased and relieved that Xue had been arrested in the United States.
"My worst fear had been that this man would disappear into networks of contacts and never be seen again," she told NZPA today.
"To have an arrest like this, within six months, is considerable progress."
Xue is suspected of murdering his wife Anan Liu and stuffing her body in the boot of a car.
He took his three-year-old daughter Qian Xun Xue to Australia and abandoned her at the Southern Cross railway station in Melbourne, before heading to the US.
Qian was nicknamed Pumpkin by police, after the Pumpkin Patch clothing she was wearing when found.
Click here for a timeline of the events leading to Xue's capture
America's Most Wanted , the TV show which has featured the hunt for Xue, said residents of Chamblee, in Atlanta, Georgia, recognised Xue from media coverage.
They sat on him, tied his hands behind his back with his belt and pulled his trousers down to his ankles and knotted them so he could not run off, before calling police.
Chamblee assistant police chief Mark Bender told NZPA: "We responded to a 911 call to a possible wanted person and found him being restrained by six of his fellow countrymen."
When told Xue was an apparent martial arts expert, Mr Bender replied: "Not today, he wasn't."
He said Xue "didn't give the police any resistance" and locals "had the upper hand on him".
CNN reported that the people at the apartment complex were holding a Chinese-language newspaper and pointing to a man's photograph when police arrived.
The news channel said an interpreter determined that the group believed they were holding a man suspected of killing his wife.
Xue was reportedly breathing heavily and paramedics were called to assess him.
Mr Bender said Xue gave police several names before his New Zealand driver's licence was found.
"He was at first denying that it was him and gave our police officers several different names.
"They decided to arrest him based on that and when they searched him they found his New Zealand driver's licence in his wallet with his real name in it."
He said when police checked his name on the computer "that's when all the bells and whistles started going off".
Ed Miller from America's Most Wanted told Newstalk ZB Xue's arrest showed how touched people were by the plight of his daughter Qian Xun Xue.
"The sight of that poor little girl abandoned on that train platform I think touched people's hearts - so that's why they were looking for him," Mr Miller said.
He said the show had been told members of the public were responsible for Xue's arrest.
"This was a take-down by just private citizens - just everyday, ordinary Joes saw him, confronted him.
"They went to the website, they went and looked at his mugshots and said 'yeah, we think that's him' and they went and sat on him.
"They went and confronted him - wouldn't let him go - they hogtied him and sat on him until police got there."
Assistant police chief Mark Bender Bender said the arrest was the biggest thing for a long time to hit Chamblee, which has a population of 10,000 and 33 police officers.
"Our guys are pumped up about it. It is one of those things that happen once in a lifetime."
He said Xue did not talk about the charge he faced of murdering his wife Anan Liu in Auckland in September, or the abandonment of his daughter Qian Xun Xue in Melbourne.
One report said Xue was dirty and smelly but Mr Bender said he did not look hungry.
"He looked like he had been eating pretty good."
Xue was transferred from the Chamblee city jail to the DeKalb County Jail. He was likely to stay there until his future was known.
Earlier, United States Marshal in Los Angeles Tom Hession said police had taken Xue into custody at about 8am NZT and charged him with being a fugitive and for being wanted in New Zealand.
Xue had been living with members of the Chinese community in the southern US city and his acquaintances tipped off local authorities after seeing news reports about Xue, Australian Associated Press (AAP) reported.
"The arrest was based on the news reports and the internet and America's Most Wanted," Mr Hession said.
"He was either associated with, or staying with some folks, who realised he was wanted and they called authorities."
Mr Hession said police hoped to be able to deport Xue back to New Zealand soon.
"It's over," Mr Hession said. "Well our part is over - New Zealand still needs to deal with him and prosecute him."
NZ police investigation
The officer in charge of Operation Patch - Auckland police's investigation into Anan Liu's murder - held a media conference in Auckland at 2pm.
Detective Senior Sergeant Simon Scott said Anan Liu's mother, Madame Liu had been told of Xue's arrest and was very pleased, but police had as yet been unable to contact Xue's daughter by his first wife, Grace.
He said plans for Xue's extradition would unfold over the next few days.
Mr Scott said he had mistakenly left his cellphone at home this morning so was given news of Xue's arrest by a coleague.
When he found out, he said: "I think the people in the next office knew my reaction - I was very, very pleased."
Mr Scott praised US authorities for their work.
He earlier said the investigation was "well placed to progress Mr Xue's deportation or extradition from the US".
Mr Scott said he was delighted by today's development and looking forward to the next phase of the investigation.
NZ police representative in America Superintendent Sandra Manderson told the Herald the arrest was "fantastic news".
"The US Marshals advise me that he is in custody in Atlanta in a county called DeKalb. I understand they found him at an address."
"It's fantastic news and I think the US Marshals have done an excellent job and I'd like to thank them and of course America's Most Wanted have been most helpful. Their information has been outstanding and they have just made a huge difference."
Ms Manderson said the next step would be arranging Xue's return to New Zealand.
"Obviously there are two areas we need to look at - deportation or extradition, and that will be through the marshals.
"We look forward to having him back in New Zealand so all the facts can come out and justice can be done."
New Zealand's Minister for Ethnic Affairs Chris Carter said: "Today's events bring some closure for the family of Qian Xue.
"I think New Zealanders who became aware of the plight of this little girl after she was abandoned at Melbourne Railway Station in September last year will be relieved at this latest development."
Chris Carter said the Chinese community would be particularly affected by the arrest of Nai Yin Xue as there had been an outpouring of support for the family after the news broke last year.
'Peter Chung' on the run
Xue had been on the run in the US the past five months.
The last confirmed sighting of him was in Mobile, Alabama, where he introduced himself to unsuspecting residents as "Peter Chung".
US authorities from Texas to the US east coast were on the lookout for Xue and his distinctive blue 1996 Thunderbird car.
The car's licence plate has been entered in the American law enforcement database so a simple traffic violation would lead to the elusive martial arts expert's arrest.
The hunt for Xue had centred on Chinese communities in Los Angeles, but fresh leads switched the search to Texas and other southern states on America's Gulf Coast.
It now has to be determined what legal jurisdiction he faces as the alleged murder of his 27-year-old wife occurred in New Zealand but the abandonment of Qian Xun Xue took place in Australia.
It has not yet been established if he has been involved in any criminal activity in US, where he was on the most wanted list.
Radio New Zealand reported that he had been begging his way around Chinese restaurants and appeared "smelly and unkempt".
The abandonment of the little girl caused an outrage in New Zealand and led to the establishment of the Little Pumpkin Trust in Australia and New Zealand.
The trust was created by Qian Xun Xue's half sister, Grace Xue, who was unaware she had a half sister until the news broke that her father had abandoned the little girl and fled.
The trust raised $40,000 for the little girl, who was taken back to China to live with her maternal grandmother.
- NZPA, AAP, NZHERALD STAFF
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