Key Kahui witness 'no use' to inquest

Chris Kahui says he is eager to learn the truth about his twins' death. Photo / Sarah Ivey

A coroner presiding over the inquest into the death of twin boys Chris and Cru Kahui is unlikely to call the man who says the boys' mother admitted to the killings.

Eru Tuari - giving evidence at the trial of the twins' father, Chris Kahui, in 2008 - said Macsyna King had told him "Chris didn't do it, I did it" while the pair were in a relationship.

Mr Tuari told the 2008 trial that he heard Ms King's alleged confession while she was "freaking out" at her Papakura home.

Mr Kahui was subsequently acquitted of the murders.

But coroner Garry Evans yesterday said he did not think there was a need to call Mr Tuari in the current hearing, as he believed his evidence fell short of the standard required to be of much help to him.

The inquest into the deaths of the 3-month-old twins opened in Auckland Coroner's Court yesterday - more than four years after they died in the Starship hospital on June 19, 2006.

Yesterday's proceedings also saw Mr Evans make a number of suppression orders relating to details he felt could, among other things, be "prejudicial to the family members".

He did, however, leave the door open for Mr Tuari's evidence to be called at a future date.

Mr Evans told Mr Kahui's lawyer Chris Wilkinson-Smith that he was prepared to call Mr Tuari if it could be shown there was further evidence which would give him reason to do so.

Both Ms King and Mr Kahui - who did not give evidence in his own defence at trial - are to give evidence at the inquest, which will try to determine whether changes can be put in place to stop child abuse.

Mr Wilkinson-Smith told the court Mr Kahui was keen to take part in the inquest to discover how the twins "came to a violent end".

The court yesterday heard from Detective Sergeant Chris Barry, who arrested Mr Kahui and was on the investigation team. In his evidence, he went over the investigation and outlined why police believed Mr Kahui was responsible for the twins' death.

Mr Barry said medical evidence and evidence from those who said they fed the twins at noon on June 12, 2006, led police to conclude the twins received their serious head injuries between noon and 9pm that day.

Evidence from other witnesses said that Ms King was not in the twins' home during that time period but was with her sister Emily and a friend, he said.

Mr Kahui's lawyers argued during the 2008 trial that Ms King may have been with Emily when her sister was using a mobile phone near the house around 7pm on June 12 when Mr Kahui was taking his sister to Middlemore Hospital to see their mother.

Mr Barry said police decided to charge Mr Kahui with the murders because he did not try to get help for the twins after baby Cru stopped breathing, he did not take them to hospital after being told to by the family doctor, and he had offered to hand himself in on three occasions.

Ms King is due to give evidence today, while Mr Kahui is due to give evidence on Wednesday.

There will be only an initial two weeks of evidence in this hearing from today, and another two weeks of evidence from November 1. The inquest will then be adjourned until 2011 to ensure evidence is transmitted to two Australian experts, who will give evidence in the new year.