Kahui kids to return to family

Murdered twins Chris and Cru Kahui.

Two children taken into care by Child, Youth and Family from the parents of murdered twins Chris and Cru Kahui will be returned to members of the wider Kahui family.

Chris and Cru died in Auckland's Starship Hospital on June 18, five days after being admitted to intensive care with severe brain damage. Police have launched a double homicide inquiry, but 11 weeks on, still no one has been arrested, with the investigation effectively being stonewalled by the family maintaining a pact of silence over who was responsible for assaulting the babies. While the twins were in hospital, two other children were taken from Chris and Cru's parents, Macsyna King and Chris Kahui - their 12-month-old son Shane and a six-month-old female cousin, Cayenne - and put in the care of CYF.

Both had been living with the couple in a rented Housing NZ property in Mangere and, according to police, were so malnourished that they had to spend two days in Middlemore Hospital.

A well-placed Herald on Sunday source said the two children had been, or at least were about to be, placed back in the care of the wider Kahui family. Where feasible, it is CYF policy to place children with immediate family members rather than in foster care.

But the source close to the family said the children would not be anywhere near either the parents, any members of the "tight 12", or any other immediate family in Auckland. "Until it's known who killed Chris and Cru, the immediate family can't be anywhere near them," the source said.

King's former partners, Gerald Ashby and Kevin Te Kahu, are raising King's other three children.