Auckland man in court over Swiss cold case

Police at the scene of the slaying in Basel, Switzerland in 2000.

A man accused of murdering a woman in Switzerland in 2000 made a brief appearance in Auckland District Court this afternoon.

The 42-year-old man, originally from Sri Lanka, was granted continued name suppression by Judge Barry Gibson until a bail hearing on September 24.

The man had lived in New Zealand for 13 years before being arrested last week over the killing of the woman, said to be his partner, in Basel, Switzerland, 14 years ago.

Kavitha Kandiah, 23, also from Sri Lanka, was found stabbed to death in the kitchen of her Basel apartment in December 2000.

The man was arrested in Auckland last Tuesday morning after an international search involving Interpol, Auckland police and Swiss authorities.

The small-business owner had been living in New Zealand since 2001, police said.

Swiss media had reported that the accused man had worked as a waiter in a Basel restaurant but disappeared shortly after the murder.