KEY POINTS:
Family members of Chris and Cru Kahui have described the moment when one of the twins stopped breathing, but have denied knowing who is responsible for hurting the babies.
Mona Kahui and her father Banjo Kahui, who were both at the south Auckland house when Cru stopped breathing in June 2006, told the High Court at Auckland they did not know who hurt the twins and both denied they were responsible.
The twins' father, Chris Kahui, is on trial for the murder of the three-month old twins, who died on June 18, 2006, within about 14 hours of each other at Auckland Starship Hospital, five days after they were admitted to Middlemore Hospital.
Ms Kahui, sister of Chris Kahui, said under cross-examination today she did not remember telling anyone that she thought her partner Stuart King knew something about the death of their nephews.
Ms Kahui, 20, also denied she had told anyone that Mr King had been threatened with a "bullet in the street" because he had spoken to police about the investigation into the twins' deaths.
Ms Kahui said while she remembered Macsyna King, the twins' mother, pushing her toddler son Shane she said she could not remember a specific incident when Ms King allegley grabbed her son by the leg roughly.
Defence lawyers say someone other than Kahui, probably Ms King, fatally hurt the twins.
Ms Kahui fought back tears as she described how Kahui visited their gravesite the evening of their tangi and refused to leave.
Kahui dropped to his hands and knees and kissed the gravestone, she said.
Even as it rained Kahui remained outside, while other members waited for him in a car, she said.
Earlier Ms Kahui described the evening of June 12 when she discovered Cru had stopped breathing.
Ms Kahui broke down in the stand as she told the court her toddler daughter Cyene (crct) has been in CYF care since the police investigation into the twins' deaths.
Ms Kahui told the court she had not noticed anything wrong with the twins but in the evening she went to their bedroom where Kahui was holding Chris.
Ms Kahui said she picked up Cru and saw his face had turned pale.
"His eyes started rolling back, his lips started going purple."
Ms Kahui said she could not feel Cru breathing and called out to Kahui, who told her to pat Cru on his back because "he didn't think it was that serious".
Ms Kahui said Ms King had told her the twins had stopped breathing before and to just "pat them", something which Ms King denied saying in court last week.
Kahui put Chris back in the cot and took Cru off Ms Kahui.
"I was in shock," she said.
While their father was in the room, Ms Kahui left to get Mr King, while Kahui looked like he was about to perform CPR on Cru, she said.
When she returned with Mr King, Kahui was on a couch telling Cru "Oh my son, don't do that to me again" and seemed to be in shock too, she said.
Cru's colour had returned but he looked drowsy and his eyes were not fully open, she said.
Kahui's father Banjo Kahui said he came into the bedroom when he heard Ms King screaming. He had not noticed anything wrong with the twins before the incident.
Under cross-examination, Mr Kahui said he had watched his son go into the nursery, at the time the crown alleges he fatally hurt them, but did not see him do anything violent to them.
His son was not angry when he was in the nursery and his sister had followed him in there almost immediately, he said.
Mr Kahui said a week before the twins' death he noticed what he thought were teeth marks on one of the boy's cheeks.
Mr Kahui said he knew his son was a good father.
"He grew up around kids. He looked after his nieces and nephews."
The trial is expected to last another six weeks.
- NZPA
