See Saturday's Weekend Herald for the full story of murderer Michael Curran
KEY POINTS:
Michael Curran was on bail for manslaughter when he murdered 2-year-old Aaliyah Morrissey, it can now be revealed.
The 28-year-old has just been found guilty in the High Court in Rotorua of killing the toddler in September 2005.
However, what the jury were never told was that the killing occurred while Curran was on bail for suspicion of the murder of a woman in January of the same year.
He was later found guilty of the manslaughter of Natasha Hayden in the lower Kaimai Ranges.
The 24-year-old's body was found in her red Mazda Familia car at the 170ha scenic McLaren Falls Park.
Curran is currently serving a nine-year jail sentence for her killing.
Extensive suppressions surrounded the Hayden case while Curran was on trial for the murder of the toddler, but they lapsed when he was found guilty today.
The Rotorua jury took four-and-a-half hours to return its verdict.
Although Justice Graham Lang appealed to the public gallery to remain quiet and calm but applause burst out among Aaliyah's family and supporters.
Brief insults were hurled at Curran as he was led from the court, his head bowed.
The judge excused the jury from further service for three years and told them it was only fair that they knew that Curran had a "serious criminal history".
Justice Lang remanded Curran in custody for sentencing on February 1.
There were tears and hugs among supporters of Aaliyah's family - among them were Natasha Hayden's parents. Curran's parents were also there to see him convicted.
Outside the court, Aaliyah's father Brad Morrissey said Curran shouldn't have been bailed in the first place and his daughter's death should never have happened.
"People need to be held to account for this," he said.
Earlier, jurors saw graphic photographs of Aaliyah lying comatose in Tauranga Hospital and the Starship in Auckland before her death in September 2005.
The photographs showed extensive bruising on her face, arms, legs and torso, most of which Dr Denmark said was inflicted in a single episode.
The largest bruises were on Aaliyah's abdomen and buttocks, in both cases covering almost the entire areas and extending across her groin.
X-rays and CT scans had revealed the 2-year-old also suffered internal injuries, including brain and abdominal injuries, torn retinas in her eyes, and a fractured forearm.
Curran showed no emotion throughout the evidence and avoided looking at the photographs, which were projected on to a large screen on the opposite side of the courtroom from the dock.
He has admitted causing Aaliyah's death, but denied intending to kill her.
Aaliyah was the daughter of neighbours and he allegedly inflicted the fatal assault at his house in Tauranga while her mother and his wife were out doing errands.
Aaliyah was unconscious when they returned and died two days later in the Starship.
Dr Denmark said her death was caused by multiple injuries, but in particular the brain injury.
He said a combination of swelling, infarction (brain death), subdural haematoma (tearing of veins in the brain) and an injury to her scalp were responsible.
"It's a vicious cycle leading to death," he said.
The bruising on her buttocks had been consistent with multiple blows, while the injury on her abdomen - the likes of which he had not encountered in his 20 years as a pathologist - was possibly the result of a single blow.
The abdominal bruise was 15cm wide and 12cm long at its deepest point, following the shape of a nappy or underpants.
Paediatrician Patrick Kelly examined Aaliyah after she was flown to the Starship and told the court she had been "profoundly comatose" from the time she was first admitted to Tauranga Hospital.
She was assessed using an international measure of consciousness called the GCS (Glasgow Coma Score), for which a score of 15 is normal.
"Three, which was Aaliyah's score, is the worst score possible," Dr Kelly said.
Any score under eight required a child to be put on a ventilator, which had happened to Aaliyah.
He said her condition had deteriorated on the flight to Auckland when her heart slowed several times and her left pupil became fixed and dilated.
"These findings are diagnostic indicators of a dangerous increase in pressure on the skull," Dr Kelly said.