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Munesh Goundar wore a wide smile as he arrived at Auckland International Airport - the electrician had fled a large team of New South Wales detectives investigating the fatal knifing of a man in a Sydney apartment days earlier.
Fijian Indian Goundar, 28, had associates in Auckland, and
travelled on Air New Zealand the morning after his brother told him that police wanted to speak to him about Rajnesh Singh's February 11 death.
Surveillance photos show him beaming as he walked through New Zealand customs.
Gounder wrote on his arrival card he planned to stay in Lynfield - at an address that did not exist.
The police say that Goundar discovered his wife Diana was having an affair with Singh and, with Diana's help, murdered him at their Prestons home in February, doused him in petrol and disposed of his body.
Twenty-five days after the savage attack, Goundar was found cutting cabbage on a market farm in Tuakau, 55kms south of Auckland's CBD.
In Australia Diana Goundar was in custody, but her husband was missing. Immigration officials realised Goundar had used his Fijian passport and Australian residency to gain entry to New Zealand. Once in Auckland he had disposed of his travel documents.
Detective Inspector Bruce Scott, the Sydney-based New Zealand Police liaison officer, wrote to Interpol asking for Kiwi officers to search for Goundar.
"It took me nine days, but I found him," Avondale-based Detective Sergeant Geoff Baber, told the Herald on Sunday. "It was a case of a bit of a lead, a bit of hunch, some good police work and some luck."
Goundar's mother told New South Wales detectives that he knew a "Joseph" who lived in Christchurch.
When police raided Goundar's property they found a notebook containing a handwritten entry with a Manurewa address for Joseph.
A search warrant was executed at the home of Joseph and Marlene Nand - Goundar, though, was not there.
Marlene Nand admits she collected Goundar from the airport on February 21. But last week she told the Herald on Sunday that she and Joseph had no knowledge of the man-hunt for Goundar, a "family friend from Fiji".
"He was just paying us a visit and didn't tell us his personal problems."
Joseph Nand also denies Goundar told him he was hiding from police. "He never told me anything, mate," says the Owens Transport owner-driver who felt "bad" his two children had slept alongside Goundar during his stay.
Before moving Goundar to a Tuakau farm, Joseph Nand says he took the visitor sightseeing. "He was with me for a couple of days, I took him around everywhere, even the casino."
After Baber executed a search warrant on the Nand property he was telephoned by Savi Tabua who had been at the house during the detective's impromptu visit but did not want to be heard passing on Goundar's whereabouts. Tabua told Baber that Goundar was working on a farm and showed Baber where he and Joseph Nand had dropped Goundar days earlier.
Baber got a search warrant for the farm, owned by Gyan Singh.
Baber said: "I said 'how are you going Munesh?' and he replied 'not too bad boss' with a bit of a smile on his face. He knew he'd been sprung."
Last week Gyan Singh told the Herald on Sunday he also did not know Goundar was wanted for questioning over a murder. He employed Goundar at $10 per hour "because he wanted to do some farm work".
"But gosh, later on I said to my wife how scary it was that he had access to all the big farming knives while he was working here," Gyan Singh said. Goundar told Gyan Singh he was in New Zealand on holiday.
Australian officers flew to New Zealand and escorted Goundar to Sydney. Once an extradition warrant was signed he was charged with Singh's murder.
"Your blokes did an excellent job. The resources they put into giving us a hand to find him was excellent," a New South Wales Police spokesperson said.
Timeline
* February 11: Rajnesh Singh murdered in Prestons, Sydney, Australia.
* February 21: Munesh Goundar flies to Auckland and stays with the Nand family in Jellicoe Rd, Manurewa.
* February 24: Munesh Goundar's wife Diana is charged in relation to Singh's murder.
* February 27: New South Wales police ask their Kiwi counterparts to search for Goundar. March 8: Police find Goundar at a farm in Harrisville Rd, Tuakau; he is later charged with murder.
