KEY POINTS:
The investigation into the death of the Kahui twins has been labelled a disaster with police accused of ignoring evidence which pointed to their mother being responsible for their fatal injuries, a jury was told today.
Defence counsel Lorraine Smith told the jury at the High Court murder trial of Chris Kahui in Auckland that they need look no further than Macsyna King for injuring Chris and Cru Kahui on June 12 2006, which led to their deaths.
Kahui's mother wept and was comforted by her daughter as she listened to Mrs Smith outline the defence case for her son in the packed public gallery.
Mrs Smith said there was no trigger for Kahui to "lose it," rather it was Ms King, who had a well documented bad temper who hurt the babies either before she left her south Auckland home about midday or when she returned briefly that evening, when Kahui was out.
The whole police investigation into who was responsible for the Kahui twins' homicide was a "disaster".
The police had focused on Kahui, based on the early medical evidence of Dr Patrick Kelly. But she told the jury Dr Kelly had questioned his own evidence under cross-examination.
The twins were not the victims of a one-off event but had historic injuries, she said.
Mrs Smith said it was highly suspicious Ms King, the main caregiver, did not notice the 18 broken ribs the twins had between them, when she bathed them on June 13 or the brain injuries.
"She is the most likely perpertrator."
Evidence from Kahui's cousin April Saunders that she had fed one of the twins after Ms King left the house about 1pm, did not mean the baby was not already injured, she said.
Defence medical experts could not rule out the babies were not already injured when Ms Saunders fed Cru, she said.
It was possible the twins had been hurt hours before Cru stopped breathing and not immediately beforehand, she said.
The twins were not fed again, did not cry out or wake up until about 9pm when Cru stopped breathing and required CPR, she said.
No-one heard the twins crying from when Ms King left until Cru stopped breathing, if they had "the crown would have brought the evidence before you with a 10-piece brass band".
Kahui had understandably told police in his first interview that he had fed the twins at 5pm, she said.
Kahui was an inarticulate 21-year-old Maori from south Auckland, whose babies were fatally injured, he was in shock and wanted to ensure police knew he was a good father, she said.
When Ms King returned the following morning she saw the full bottles on the bench, she said.
"Macsyna King should have been alarmed when she returned and found they had not been fed."
Ms King did not try to wake the twins or feed them, she said.
"You must wonder why she was not seriously alarmed.
"This was an experienced mother.
"Why was she not seriously alarmed?
"She was alarmed all right."
Ms King knew the implication of the full bottles when she saw them, Mrs Smith said.
Mrs Smith said Ms King and her sister Emily had lied about what happened on the Monday evening.
Denials by Ms King that she did not return to the south Auckland home for a brief time while Kahui was out dropping his sister off to visit their mother at hospital, were clearly not supported by cellphone records which showed Emily King had returned to the Mangere area that evening.
There was no trigger for Kahui to lose it and hurt his sons. No-one had heard the babies crying or screaming on the Monday - he was not angry, she said.
Instead it was likely Ms King returned to their home, found Kahui gone and hurt the twins in a sudden fit of rage, she said.
Kahui also told police in the first interview Cru required CPR at 11pm, he was "simply mistaken" and wrong about the timing of events.
Mrs Smith will continue her address tomorrow before Justice Geoffrey Venning sums up for the jury.
- NZPA
