View photosKEY POINTS:
Police are adamant they arrested the right person for the murder of the Kahui twins and say they will not be charging anyone else, including the babies' mother, Macsyna King.
"There is no evidence to support a charge against any other person and that includes the mother, Macsyna
King," inquiry head Detective Inspector John Tims said last night.
"Everyone that was at Courtney Crescent [Mangere] over that weekend was considered a person of interest and we thoroughly investigated each person until we identified Chris Kahui and made the arrest."
Mr Tims said the view that Mr Kahui was responsible had not changed after his acquittal and there were no plans to reopen the investigation or act on defence claims that Ms King was responsible.
"There is no new evidence. The defence brought no new evidence to trial, there will be no further investigation into this matter. As far as I am concerned the matter is closed - the jury has made their decision."
Mr Tims said he was disappointed by the verdict but accepted the decision and thanked the jury for sitting through six weeks of evidence.
When asked if police had charged the wrong person with the twins' murder, he said: "The jury has listened to six weeks of evidence and they have acquitted Chris Kahui. There is no new information that indicates anyone else is responsible for the death of the twins."
Mr Tims is adamant that the evidence gathered during the investigation eliminated Ms King, despite defence claims she was responsible.
The defence called a witness who claimed Ms King had confessed to the murder and that confession was recorded on his cellphone.
However, Mr Tims said police had spoken to that witness and discredited the claims after analysing his phone and finding no such trace of the alleged confession ever having been recorded.
Mr Tims said the fact that Ms King might have been in the area on the night the twins died - despite initially saying she was nowhere near them - did not make her the killer.
While cellphone records indicated she was in Mangere that night, Mr Tims said, the time of the call did not match the time the crown pathologist says the injuries were inflicted so again the evidence did not fit.
Mr Tims said the decision to arrest and charge Mr Kahui was not taken lightly and happened only after the file had been thoroughly reviewed.
"There was a four-month investigation. During that time there was consultation with the Crown and medical experts. Based on the evidence gathered during the investigation, the Crown decided there was sufficient evidence to charge Chris Kahui."
Responding to defence claims that the police investigation was a "disaster", Mr Tims said, "Maybe it was just for the purpose of the courtroom."
There was no forensic evidence to help to find the babies' killer and the family's "code of silence" during the initial months of the inquiry did not help the investigation run smoothly.
"But what I would say is that with any child death, those involved ... are normally related to the dead child. With this comes the problem that the family have loyalties to each other, not always to the dead child."
WHERE THE POLICE CASE FAILED
* Crown said Chris Kahui was responsible. Defence said Macsyna King was responsible.
* Crown said Macsyna was nowhere near the babies when they were injured. Defence proved otherwise by producing Emily King's cellphone records that showed calls were made from Mangere. Macsyna was with Emily all night.
* Crown medical experts said the twins would have shown symptoms minutes after they were assaulted. Defence experts said injuries could have occurred several hours before symptoms showed.
* Defence said police failed to follow up claims by Macsyna's former partner that she confessed to him and it was recorded on a cellphone. Police say they ruled out its significance after analysing the cellphone and finding no such recording was made.
* Macsyna was not interviewed for several months about the alleged confession because of police's heavy workload. Police say the allegations were not proven and she had already been interviewed several times.
