Marksmen staked out house for 3 days

By STAFF REPORTERS

Heavily armed police spent three days staking out the house where Kahu Durie was held before they were able to rescue her.

The elite special tactics group is understood to have been scrambled on Thursday - at least a day after the baby's parents received a $3 million ransom demand and the Government said police could have the money if it was needed.

Officers of the highly trained squad were sent into Taumarunui and kept the suspect and his home - a three-bedroom bungalow on the town's outskirts - under surveillance, before striking on Sunday.

The house they were watching was near the top of a small hill, barely visible from the road below. It was on a 3000sq m unfenced property and had dirty net curtains and mown lawns with a few overgrown plants and vegetable garden.

The police dared not swoop while the suspect was inside with the baby.

Residents of the central North Island town noticed nothing until the police were poised to strike.

On Sunday, the suspect had left the house in the afternoon, leaving Kahu alone inside.

Several hours later, a neighbour about 100m away watched as the squad surrounded the property.

A van pulled up about 5pm and nine officers spilled out and burst into the house. They emerged holding Kahu, wrapped in a shawl. She appeared to have been well cared for.

Detective Inspector Stuart Wildon, second in charge of the case, described a "huge sense of relief when the phone rang and the officer at the end of the line said, 'Baby Kahu is alive and we have her'."

Police arrested a 54-year-old unemployed man some time afterwards and charged him with kidnapping for ransom, bringing to an end one of the country's biggest and highest-profile police hunts.

The man appeared before justice of the peace Ralph de Raat in the Taumarunui District Court yesterday. He was given interim name suppression and remanded in custody until his next appearance in the Lower Hutt District Court on Friday.

Other details of the court appearance were also suppressed.

Kahu's parents, Wellington lawyer Donna Hall and High Court judge Eddie Durie, yesterday held her in their arms at a press conference as they thanked everyone for their support.

"There are so many people we want to thank - God first, close runner-up second the police, then everybody who sent us messages," Justice Durie said.

Police are saying little about how they tracked down the suspect.

Mr Wildon said they had to be careful in what they said because the case was before the courts and suppression orders were in force.

Kahu was taken at gunpoint from Donna Hall and two of her nieces as they pushed her along St Albans Grove, near her Lower Hutt home, on Saturday, April 13. The gunman sped off in a two-toned blue-silver Mitsubishi.

Early last week, police said they were struggling and the key was finding the getaway car. They asked Scotland Yard in London and the American FBI for advice.

But then a ransom note demanding $3 million was received and, because of the amount, police chiefs went to the Government.

On Wednesday night, Finance Minister Michael Cullen told police they could have the money if they needed it.

The next day there was a subtle change in the way police described their operation. Mr Wildon said the inquiry had entered a "critical phase" and detectives expected to be in touch with the kidnapper soon and were confident Kahu was alive - statements which seemed stronger and more positive.

On Thursday, the Herald understands, the Auckland section of the special tactics group was sent into Taumarunui to stake out the home of the kidnapping suspect.

Just before the team struck, the police Eagle helicopter lifted off in low cloud and darkness from an unnamed central North Island town and headed for Ohakune, where it picked up a policewoman and paramedic. The helicopter team then landed at the house, and took Kahu to Taumarunui Hospital for a check-up, arriving at 5.25pm.

At 7pm, the chopper arrived at Wellington Airport, where the policewoman who had held Kahu throughout the flight handed her to her relieved parents.

News began filtering out of the central North Island, with initial reports of police activity in Turangi. Further south, police found what they believe is the getaway car, hidden in Lower Hutt.

Anxious parents Donna Hall and Justice Durie could barely wait to get their baby home. "We spoke to her very gently," Donna Hall said. "We saw the flash of her eyes and knew she was just great."

Full coverage: Baby Kahu kidnapping


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