KEY POINTS:
The wife of convicted double murderer John Barlow is convinced her husband is innocent, on the eve of his appeal to the Privy Council in London.
Angela Barlow said although she had never asked him, she was convinced her husband could not have murdered father and son Wellington
businessmen Gene and Eugene Thomas.
Lawyer Greg King flew to London on February 16 to appear before the Privy Council in a final attempt to clear his client's name.
Barlow was convicted and jailed for 14 years for the deaths of the men, found shot in Wellington in 1994.
It was his third trial, following two hung juries.
The Privy Council was due to begin hearing the appeal tonight (NZT).
Mrs Barlow said she expected a decision in about six weeks.
Mr King had an excellent submission, she told Radio New Zealand.
"The law lords have a reputation for being the best jurists in the world so we're confident they'll look at it with honesty and without political motivation, which is important."
Asked whether her husband could have carried out the killings, Mrs Barlow said: "I know he didn't do it. I know all the circumstances, I know every little bit of evidence that the police have gathered, I've been through everything.
"I know he wouldn't do that in the first place. I've never asked him because I've always known."
Before he left for London Mr King said the Privy Council would first decide whether it would hear the case despite the Court of Appeal in New Zealand refusing to do so.
If it decided to hear it, Mr King would put forward submissions relating to the FBI evidence used in the third trial which convicted Barlow after two hung juries.
The evidence compared bullets that killed the men to bullets Barlow had.
Mr King said he would argue that evidence had now been discredited and should not have been put before the jury.
"(It) misled the jury on a material issue."
Mr King said if the Privy Council decided to hear the case it had four options:
* Refer the case back to the Court of Appeal in New Zealand;
* Quash the convictions and leave the New Zealand courts to decide whether to try the case again;
* Quash the convictions and acquit Barlow, which would mean the matter would be at an end;
* Or reject the appeal.
If the council ordered the Court of Appeal to hear the case that would be a "significant step forward" as three years had been spent trying to get that to happen, Mr King said.
"But obviously we would prefer it if they simply quashed the convictions."
- NZPA
