Migrant sent for trial over triple murder

A Korean immigrant accused of clubbing and knifing his wife and two children to death has been committed to the High Court on three charges of murder.

Two justices of the peace yesterday ruled that Robert Han, aged 35, had a case to answer and that the process for his High Court trial would start next month.

They gave their decision in the Otahuhu District Court after two days of sometimes tearful evidence from Han's parents and sister.

Han has denied killing his wife, Angela, and preschool children Nicholas and Christina last August 8 or 9. The prosecution alleges that the killings followed his loss of $100,000 at Sky City Casino, a botched suicide attempt and a five-month flight to Korea.

His father, Sang Bon Han, yesterday described how he tried to reassure the accused in hospital after he smashed his car into a pole in 1997 - allegedly a suicide bid.

"I told him not to worry too much about the money at the casino, that we can find a way to make up the money," Mr Han said.

Police papers presented in court said that Han asked to be voluntarily banned from Sky City to curb his gambling.

His father said Han disappeared in March last year and the family launched a search. They drove to Rotorua and Taupo, but two days later he telephoned from Korea and said he was looking for a job.

Apart from the $100,000, he had racked up credit-card debts of about $18,000 and boosted the mortgage on his house, Mr Han said.

On August 7, he arrived home unannounced.

"We were so happy, we just hugged each other," Mr Han said. "But there was something we couldn't quite feel at the time, something uneasy."

Two days later, police allege, Han used a hammer to bludgeon his wife and children senseless in their bedrooms before cutting their throats with a kitchen knife. He then slashed his wrists and stabbed himself in the stomach.

Police said Han's father found the bodies the next morning.

He and his wife, Oh Suk Han, cried when speaking about the fatal weekend. Prosecutor Richard Marchant declined to question them.

Defence lawyer Chris Morris said the defendant did not accept he had a case to answer.