The threemonthold babies died five years ago this month after being admitted to starship hospital with head injuries. The threemonthold baby brothers died in aucklands starship childrens hospital in. When we start asking questions about same sex marriage we elicit moral responses about a persons personal belief as. The coroner s findings on the death of the kahui twins is expected to be released later this week. Each chapter provides an overview of the legal issues, statutory material and other sources of guidance, followed by case summaries and extracts where the relevant issues are discussed.
The twins father was found not guilty of killing his sons in 2008. Macsyna kings brother and sister before coroners court today. New zealands kahui twins died of natural causes not from. In the coroners court decision no 8912 held at auckland in the matter of the coroners act 1988 and in the matter of inquests into the deaths of christopher arepa kahui and cru omeka kahui, infants before. Under the coroners act inquests arent mandatory and the coroner must only consider certain matters when deliberating whether to have one, such as whether a witness might offer new evidence. I feel liberated after years of torment, nz herald, 26712. Nz herald sep 25, 2010 chris kahui will give evidence about the deaths of his twin boys for the first time at a coroners inquest. Where a coroner has reasonable ground to believe or suspect that any deceased person whose body is within his district died an unnatural death, if he thinks the circumstances of the case. The following table lists the inquest hearings due to be held this month. Grieving father slams kent coroners office over lack of. The hearing into the demise of infants chris and cru kahui, who suffered fatal head injuries inflicted in june 2006, will go ahead in the auckland coroners court on october 4. Office opening hours are monday to thursday, 8am to 4pm, and friday, 8am to 3. Their family initially refused to cooperate with police in the homicide investigation into the childrens murder. The landmark report from coroner garry evans, which is at odds with mr kahui s 2008.
March 26, 2020 office of the chief coroner announces postponement of inquests. Coroner calls for child protection teams, nz herald, 25712. Inquest ordered on mother of twins high court told failures at private hospital led to womans death shortly after giving birth by caesarean section sarah boseley, health correspondent. Kahui went inside and the inquest heard he was in the house on his. Coroner s inquest synonyms, coroner s inquest pronunciation, coroner s inquest translation, english dictionary definition of coroner s inquest. The crown maintains the twins father chris killed them.
Among those to give evidence will be the twins father chris kahui, who was found not guilty of their murder in 2008, and their mother macsyna king. The twins are buried in a family plot at mangere lawn cemetery. Eru tuari was the last witness giving evidence at the auckland inquest into the brutal deaths of threemonthold chris and cru kahui in 2006. After a trial lasting five weeks in the high court at auckland in 2008, chris kahui was found not guilty of killing his twin sons chris and cru, aged. Dad demands mum attends inquest of their twin babies she. The babies father, chris kahui, was acquitted of their murder in 2008. Grieving father, 36, whose estranged wife drowned their 23monthold twins slams the kent coroner s office for having not yet held an inquest more than a year after their deaths.
Theres been a crowd of criticism and abuse of king, and significant protest action over the yet to be released book. Chris and cru kahui were twins, aged just 3 months old when they died in hospital, both suffering from traumatic brain injury. The mother of murdered twins chris and cru kahui has found a new life, married to a bishop and running a fish and chip shop. The cris and cru kahui homicides refers to the murders of brothers christopher arepa and cru. The twins deaths were reported to auckland coroner sarn herdson, who directed. Inquest into the deaths of christopher and cru kahui infants coroners court auckland 8912, 2 july 2012, at 174.
Coroners inquest into the deaths of kahui twins started. Coroner implies chris kahui responsible for twins death. Chris kahui s father, banjo kahui, continued giving evidence at an inquest in auckland district court inquest on monday. Coroners inquest into the deaths of kahui twins started today.
Over a year later, in august 2007, their father chris kahui was. Coronial law is an area that attracts great public scrutiny, reflected in the recent establishment of the office of the chief coroner, and the number of judges of the high court and the court of appeal made deputy assistant coroners to particularly sensitive inquests. The coroner indicated the twins mother macsyna king had been the victim of a smear campaign by kahui s lawyers that didn. Inquests are postponed in alignment with ontarios strategy to limit the spread of covid19. Chris kahui attempts to block coroners report release. Later that afternoon at the coroners inquest william boyd gave his evidence as follows, and it is perhaps worth remembering that he had previously stated that mary ann cotton had died instantly, when informing the home secretary. The mother of the dead kahui twins says she is very happy with a coroners finding that the boys died while in the sole care of their father, chris kahui. Aviation fatality, light helicopter in experimental class, failure inflight of rear stabilizer unit, excessive movement in bearing within tail rotor assembly, recommendations as to further investigation of two strikingly similar fatalities within australia by aviation. The deaths of macsyna kings 84dayold sons in 2006 shocked a nation.
The kahui case has aroused strong emotions in the public. Inquest ordered on mother of twins uk news the guardian. In most counties in california, the elected sheriff is also the elected coroner. The office of the coroner and the birth of the modern. New zealand law commission coroners nzlc r62, 2000, at 74 inquest into the deaths of christopher and cru kahui infants coroners court auckland 8912, 2 july 2012. The kahui twins died of natural causes according to a controversial medical opinion given to the coroner for an upcoming inquest into their deaths. The preeminent premodern criminal investigator was the coroner. Journalist wishart is writing the book, with some help from macsyna king, the mother of twins chris and cru kahui who died in 2006 in unexplained circumstances.
The coroner made a finding that kahui refused to take the children to hospital, running. Threemonthold south auckland twins chris and cru kahui were killed in june 2006, and their father chris kahui was acquitted of their murders in 2008. Schedule of inquests ministry of the solicitor general. Mr kahui s lawyer, lorraine smith, dismissed the allegations as baseless and questioned the timing of the books release ahead of a coroners findings. Once again macsyna king has been publicly vilified after it became known ian wishart has written a book about her relative to the death of her twin kahui twins. Coroners inquest definition of coroners inquest by the. New zealand cold cases would have a shot at being solved. This was a hard book to read, but also a hard book to put down. Macsyna king at the auckland district court for the coroner inquest. A coroner has implied that chris kahui killed his twin babies and then lied under oath to cover his actions. Any coroner, in his or her discretion, may hold an inquest if the coroner suspects that the death of a person was unnatural, or violent, or resulted from unlawful means, or from suspicious circumstances, or was of such a nature as to indicate the possibility of death by the hand. At the inquest yesterday, chris kahui s lawyer michele wilkinsonsmith examined how the twins could have received their severe brain injuries.
The inquest into the deaths of one of new zealands most highprofile child killings has been postponed indefinitely. Coroner garry evans has found the death of the kahui twins happened while in the sole care of their father chris kahui, whose evidence was. The government needs to act on key recommendations from the kahui inquest and front up with the additional resources needed to. This is how the newly released coroners report into the violent deaths of three month old chris and cru kahui begins.
In 2012, a coroners report concluded the babies injuries occurred while they were solely in the care of chris kahui. Cold cases arent guaranteed to go to inquest or even preliminary inquiry. Since then the case has stalled, and the murders remain unsolved. The cris and cru kahui homicides refers to the murders of brothers christopher arepa and cru omeka kahui 20 march 2006 18 june 2006, two new zealand infants from a maori family who died in aucklands starship childrens hospital after being admitted with serious head injuries. Stuff reports the kahui twins met a violent death while in the sole care of their father chris kahui, who went on to lie repeatedly to protect himself from blame, a coroner has found mr kahui, who was found not guilty of the murder of sons chris and cru in a 2008 high court trial, has rejected the findings outright and reaffirmed he denies any involvement in the untimely deaths of his babies. The final stage of the inquest into the deaths of south auckland twins chris and cru kahui continues this morning. After chris kahui s acquittal, king is the only real option if police decide to charge someone after the inquest into the deaths of baby twins chris and cru kahui, legal experts say.
Mr kahui s lawyer, lorraine smith, dismissed the allegations as baseless and questioned the timing of the book s release ahead of a coroner s findings. The mother of the dead kahui twins says she is very happy with a coroner s finding that the boys died while in the sole care of their father, chris kahui. The office of the coroner was first established in england in 1194. A coroner is a government official who is empowered to conduct or order an inquest into the manner or cause of death, and to investigate or confirm the identity of an unknown person who has been found dead within the coroner s jurisdiction in medieval times, english coroners were crown officials who held financial powers and conducted some judicial investigations in order to counterbalance.
Notices of the rescheduled dates and locations will be published when available. The long awaited coroners verdict on the death of the kahui twins. The book is helpfully structured according to the elements of an inquest or the subject matter of a coroner s investigation. Coroners verdict slams chris kahui, clears macsyna king. Coroner garry evans has found the death of the kahui twins happened while in the sole care of their father chris kahui, whose evidence was lacking in credibility and not to be relied upon. That is the case in contra costa county, where a coroners inquest is held in all cases involving a death related in any way to law enforcement. No te ra nei i timata mai ai te take e pa ana ki nga kitenga a te matanga tupapaku i nga maahanga kahui, a chris raua ko cru. As the name suggests coroner is derived from the latin word for crownthe medieval coroner was a general crown official charged with pursing and protecting the financial interests of the king. The former partner of the kahui twins mother macsyna king told an inquest today she told him that chris didnt do it, i did it. Coroner and inquests cambridgeshire county council. Kahui for the death of their twin threemonthold baby boys, in a book to. Coroner s inquest into the deaths of kahui twins started today. Detective sergeant chris barry gave evidence yesterday on the first day of the inquest at auckland coroners court, more than four years after the twins died in starship hospital on june 19, 2006. The report by dr damian wojcik, a police medical examiner in whangarei for 16 years, hypothesised that the 3monthold babies died from barlows disease or infant scurvy from a severe vitamin c deficiency rather than shaken baby syndrome.
A landmark report from coroner garry evans implies that chris kahui. Dr chan was the coroner who decided not to hold an inquest into the death of laura touche, a healthy young woman who died after giving birth to twins. Coroners verdict slams chris kahui, clears macsyna king in twins. Their death was the result of a severe impact, either from direct blows or being hit, thrown or slammed against a hard surface. Dr patrick kelly, told the inquest into the death of the kahui twins that. Coroner garry evans implied the babies were killed by their father, chris kahui, who then lied under oath to cover his actions. Hard to read, as the mother of the kahui twins is very frank, and reading about her and chris kahui s childhoods is heart breaking. But on monday mr kahui said he would never cover up for chris kahui if he had caused the injuries.
How easy for us to judge quickly, as the facebook campaign seems to have done, without at least allowing macsyna king to have a chance to give another. Tanana and fort gibbon military base, coroner s records, 19081922. Last week, he admitted that he initially lied to police about seeing one of the twins stop breathing to protect his son. No reinvestigation after kahui verdict otago daily. Steven ford, 36, told a coroner s court today its important his killer exwife samantha, 38, attends future hearings into how the couples twin babies, all pictured, died in margate, kent, in 2018. In a report that mirrors many of the conclusions published in the book breaking silence last year, coroner garry evans has gone to the limits of coronial law and made a screed of negative findings against chris kahui.