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Home / New Zealand

King not home when Kahui twins hurt, Crown says

By Edward Gay
Herald online·
20 May, 2008 03:57 AM6 mins to read

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Chris Kahui. Photo / Brett Phibbs

Chris Kahui. Photo / Brett Phibbs

KEY POINTS:

Macsyna King wasn't at home when the the Kahui twins were fatally hurt, the Crown prosecutor Simon Moore has told jurors during his summing up at the murder trial of Chris Kahui today.

The Crown alleges Kahui murdered three-month-old sons - Chris and Cru - in June 2006.
They died of major brain injuries and the Crown case is that Kahui inflicted the injuries in a stress-induced rage.

The defence case is that someone else, probably the babies' mother, Ms King, harmed them earlier.

Mr Moore has rebutted evidence he anticipates the defence raising in their summing up, likely to begin tomorrow.

He said none of the witnesses in the case support the theory that Macsyna returned home, and despite Kahui dropping his sister to the hospital to visit his mother, the timing does not make sense, according to the timed trips by defence and prosecution witnesses.

During the defence's cross examination of Detective Barry it was revealed that a cellphone call was received by Macsyna King's sister, Emily, on the night the Crown alleges the injuries to the twins were inflicted.

Mr Moore said Emily was driving past Mangere on the way back to her house to drop her partner's four-wheeled drive off.

He said that was supported by Emily King's evidence.

Mr Moore said the defence may argue that a 3.45 minute call between Emily and her partner was a plea for Emily to pick Macsyna King up from the Mangere house.

"The reality is, we don't know what they were talking about and we shouldn't guess," Mr Moore said.

He said "there is not a shred of evidence" to suggest Emily was picking Macsyna up from Mangere.

Mr Moore also said it did not make sense for Macsyna to call Emily's partner to be picked up when she could have called her sister directly. He also said there was no phone record to suggest this.

He said Macsyna had no reason to return home and the cell site nearest to the Mangere home is the Papatoe West cell site, not the Mangere site.

Mr Moore said this was shown when Macsyna made a cell phone call from Mangere to Kahui's sister before taking the twins to the hospital.

Mr Moore said if the defence argues that Macsyna returned to the Mangere house to kill the twins, then the night before the pair were "happily singing away as if nothing was wrong at all".

He said if the defence argue Macsyna killed her twins then there are aspects to the story that need to be thought out.

"When Emily gets up she finds Macsyna feeding her baby. The known baby killer is feeding her baby. Not only is Emily not concerned that this baby killer is feeding her baby but she asks if her sister will look after her baby while she is at work," Mr Moore said.

He said this situation is not believable and if this is what the defence argues than the jury needs to step back and take a "reality check".

Earlier, Mr Moore told Jurors they must reach a verdict based on circumstantial evidence.

No one saw the injuries being inflicted and no one had admitted to the crime, Mr Moore said.

He said the Crown's case relied on circumstantial evidence which could be likened to a rope with all the strands coming together to create a strong case.

Mr Moore told the jury that the defence had painted a picture of Macsyna as a P user with six children to different men.

"It's not a popularity contest and if it were, I think Macsyna would lose. We're not here to judge Macsyna King. We're here because two tiny babies are dead," Mr Moore said.

Mr Moore reiterated medical evidence and witnesses to place the timing of the twin's last "normal" feed.

He said four witnesses - Mona Kahui, Macsyna King, cousin April Saunders and Kahui himself have provided evidence of "absolute banal normality".

Ms Saunders fed baby Cru half a bottle while Mona King saw Kahui go down the hallway with a bottle for baby Chris. When he came back, Mona Kahui said the bottle was empty, he told the court.

Mr Moore said he sympathised with Banjo Kahui who was in a situation where he must obey his oath and try to "minimise" the harm to his son.

He said Banjo Kahui was the only witness to say one of the babies drank about 10mls.

"If these babies were already injured, the defence doesn't want them latching on or feeding vigorously," Mr Moore said.

He said all six people in the house at the time of the feeding on Monday, the day before the twins were taken to hospital, "paint a picture of two perfectly normal healthy twins".

He quoted witnesses as saying Cru Kahui fed from a bottle for about 15 minutes, the normal time it would have taken him to drink half a bottle.

Mr Moore also read transcripts from three police interviews with Kahui. In all three interviews Kahui told the police that at the twins' last feed at between 5 and 6pm, they fed "just like normal".

"Again I say, who better than him to know," Mr Moore said, referring to Kahui in the dock who remained passive through-out today's summing up.

Mr Moore has told the jury that two medical witnesses have said that the feeding on Monday showed that the babies were in good health.

"Dr Kelly analysed each feature of April's evidence and determined that she described a healthy and normal baby of Cru's development," Mr Moore said.

He quoted Dr Kelly saying: "I don't believe these babies were fatally injured at the time".

Mr Moore said it was Ms King who sought medical attention for the twins on four occasions.

He said there was only one explanation given for the twins' fatal injuries and that was from Chris Kahui, who blamed his elder son, Shane.

"He lies, he blames his own son," Mr Moore said.

He said Kahui's first response to Ms King when she arrived home on the day the twins were admitted to hospital was "where were you?".

Mr Moore said Kahui was a young man with three young children whose mother was in hospital.

He said when the babies were taken to hospital, Kahui went on a "walkabout".

"When Macsyna called him from the hospital about the serious injuries, does he jump into the car and go to the hospital when she tells him the twins are in ICU?

"No, he goes on playing on the Playstation and says: 'Whatever'," Mr Moore said.

"It is not so much what people say, look at what people do. These twins were killed by the accused, a young man who wasn't coping," he said.

Mr Moore told the jury that when they retired to deliver their verdict they would have 1380 pages of evidence.

Mr Moore will continue the Crown's summing up tomorrow morning. The seven men and five women are not likely to retire before Thursday.

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