KEY POINTS:
Nai Yin Xue's lies, rather than his alleged crimes, are likely to result in his being sent back to New Zealand within days.
If American authorities decide to deport him for putting false information on his immigration card when he fled to the United States five months ago, it will be done quickly.
But if he goes through the extradition process, he might remain in the US for more than a month.
Xue, wanted for the murder of his wife in Auckland and the dumping of his daughter in Melbourne, was caught in Atlanta, Georgia, yesterday by a group of residents who recognised his face, chased and caught him and tied him up until police arrived.
He was arrested under a federal warrant which New Zealand police applied for the week after his wife, An An Liu, was found dead in the boot of his car in Mt Roskill last September.
Yesterday's arrest has brought smiles to the faces of New Zealand police, who were strongly criticised for the time it took to find Ms Liu's body in the boot of Xue's car.
Detective Senior Sergeant Simon Scott, head of the investigation, was sitting in his office when a colleague delivered the news yesterday morning. "I think the people in the next office knew my reaction - I was just very, very pleased."
Mr Scott said police were still working with American authorities and it was too early to say when Xue would be brought back to NZ.
He could be deported quickly under immigration laws, or he could be extradited, a process that can take up to 45 days. Xue is being held in a county jail.
A US Marshals spokesman, Senior Inspector James Ergas, said in Atlanta that Xue would not be taken into federal custody until after a detention hearing before a federal judge overnight (NZT).
This could be done on either a "provisional warrant" based on Xue being wanted for murder in New Zealand, or a quicker "immigration hold", which would lead to deportation.
Xue's older daughter, Grace, who lives in Auckland, was filled with emotion and was "thinking very much about her father", said her spokesman, Tony Edmonds.
"She said to me that she feels some sorrow for him ... There are all kinds of emotions running through her."
