Baby Kahu kidnapping: The possible motive

By ANGELA GREGORY, PATRICK GOWER, PAULA OLIVER, FRAN O'SULLIVAN and SCOTT MacLEOD

Lawyer Donna Hall received threats and was warned to tighten security before a man kidnapped her baby, Kahurautete, at gunpoint.

The prominent lawyer and wife of High Court judge Eddie Durie has revealed that she was threatened over a major case she is involved in and was told to increase security at home and work only last October.

The case was a "large public law issue involving all Maori in New Zealand", but she did not elaborate. It was not connected with her husband's work.

The hunt for 8-month-old Kahu Durie entered its fourth day today, with detectives admitting they had no major leads and no ransom demands and were hoping the kidnapper would contact them.

Inquiry head Detective Inspector Stuart Wildon said police were increasingly concerned for baby Kahu's wellbeing.

"I would like to have heard something by now from the man responsible for her abduction. As time passes we become more concerned for the baby's safety and the intentions of the offender."

Donna Hall has been involved in two high-profile, controversial cases which have upset a large number of people.

One multi-tribe Maori land issue she headed, the Volcanic Interior Plateau claim for much of the central North Island, was said in March 2000 to be big enough to "eclipse every settlement so far". But some iwi with 10-year-old claims on Bay of Plenty land were livid that the new claim could be seen to have supplanted theirs.

At issue are controversial charges that some tribes which Donna Hall says she represents do not really speak for the Bay of Plenty.

There are suggestions the VIP group has monopolised research funds from the Crown Forests Rental Trust to the disadvantage of other players.



Two years ago, Donna Hall alleged that the Ngai Tahu tribe creamed more than half the total fishing quota wealth in one year through the Treaty of Waitangi Fisheries Commission, Te Ohu Kai Moana. Just 47 per cent was left for all other tribes.

It was just one of many of her fisheries statements that ruffled feathers. She also called for neutral commissioners to work on fisheries allocations, claiming the incumbents had "vested interests".

Fisheries Commission spokesman Glenn Inwood told the Herald that he was not aware of any threats against her.

Baby Kahu was snatched from Donna Hall as she and two teenage nieces walked along Lower Hutt's St Albans Grove on Saturday morning - a walk she often took.

The man lay in wait and confronted the group, accompanied by Donna Hall's dog Manawa, at the end of the street in suburban Woburn about 11.50am.

At a press conference yesterday, Donna Hall told how the assailant held what is believed to be a double-barrelled shotgun to the head of one of her nieces as he demanded baby Kahu.

"You put a rifle at my niece's head and told me you would shoot them if we didn't do what you wanted ... and then you took Kahurautete."

Police have refused to reveal what the kidnapper said to Donna Hall.

Donna Hall told Holmes last night that police believed the abduction was planned and the kidnapper was paid. "The police believe that it was a planned endeavour to take Kahu. It was not a random thing," she said.

"I felt that he was agitated. He was certainly extremely aggressive about my dog. I thought that I had just come across a person who hated dogs ... "

Police have asked Donna Hall and Justice Durie to examine any link with their work.

"The police have asked that both my husband and I go through our files to see if there's anyone who would have a great enough sense of malice to take our baby. And we are both doing that."

A team of more than 60 police were yesterday continuing their efforts to find baby Kahu and identify the kidnapper. Police have had more than 150 calls on the inquiry's 0800-number and one possible sighting of the suspect's car - a silver and blue Mitsubishi - near the base of Wainuiomata Hill in Lower Hutt about an hour after the kidnapping.



Mr Wildon said nothing so far had led him to believe there were racial undertones to the abduction, despite the kidnapper's being a Pakeha.

Police, as always, had an open mind and were considering all possibilities. They included:

* A random abduction or case of mistaken identity. Police intelligence analysts were looking at trends behind previous abductions and building up profiles of a possible offender. Mr Wildon said they had a "growing" list of suspects and police had not ruled out a sexual motive.

* The baby is being held for ransom, despite the absence so far of a demand. Donna Hall made the National Business Review's 2000 rich list, which claimed she had made about $10 million.

* The abduction was linked to a family member.

* A link with the murder of Kate Alkema, strangled beside the Hutt River on Saturday.

"We can't discount a possible link," Mr Wildon said. "Both offences took place near to each other and both within an hour of each other, but there is no indication they are linked."

Australian criminal profiler Wayne Petherick thinks the kidnapper was probably motivated by revenge and may not have been working alone.

"Given that there has been no ransom demand, it suggests it is not for profit but retaliation," said Mr Petherick, a forensic criminologist at Queensland's Bond University.



He said the man was likely to be pumped full of adrenaline fuelled by fear and excitement, and his behaviour would probably be erratic.

He might also be feeling cocky if, as police said, they had little on him.

Full coverage: Baby Kahu kidnapping

Picture: Kahurautete Durie

Picture: Kahurautete's clothing

Picture: the car being sought by police

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