KEY POINTS:
The three-year-old toddler abandoned by her father, now a murder suspect, may have seen the violent attack that killed her mother.
Qian Xun Xue, three, was dumped by her father Nia Yin Xue, 54, in a Melbourne train station before he fled to America.
Several days later his wife's body was found in the boot of his car outside their Auckland home and Xue was put on an international police wanted list.
The toddler had told police in a formal interview in Melbourne, she was not allowed to see her mother last week for several days because her father had said she was unwell and was asleep.
Anan Xue, 27, may have died on Wednesday, September 12, the day before her husband took their daughter to Melbourne.
An Australian newspaper said police believe she was at the family's home in the Auckland suburb of Mt Roskill when her mother died.
It was also reported that Xue told his daughter they were going on a plane and her mother would not be going with them.
Xue was not believed to have had a plan when he arrived in Melbourne but he later paid cash for his one-way ticket to Los Angeles.
- NZPA