KEY POINTS:
United States law enforcement agencies have shelled out around $500,000 on the hunt for fugitive Nai Yin Xue - and next to be hit in the pocket will be Kiwi taxpayers who will foot the man's legal aid bill.
Rather than follow the lengthy extradition process, authorities confirmed yesterday that Xue, 54, would simply be deported under police escort back to New Zealand within the next fortnight where it is expected he will face a variety of charges, including murder.
Although Xue was carrying US$6500 ($8100) when police caught up with him in the United States, it is understood he has no savings or disposable assets and will be relying on legal aid once he is charged.
If Xue decides to defend the case, the bill could run to tens of thousands of dollars.
Xue is suspected of murdering his wife, Anan Liu, and abandoning their 3-year-old daughter Qian Xun Xue - dubbed Pumpkin - in Melbourne in September.
He then flew to Los Angeles, and vanished. Xue later featured on America's Most Wanted and, despite Los Angeles police and US marshals casting the net wide for Xue, in the end it was six fellow ethnic Chinese - five men and a woman - who subdued him and alerted police.
Xue is being held in an Atlanta county jail while he waits deportation.
The arresting officer in the case, Chamblee Police Department chief Marc Johnson, told the Herald on Sunday that Xue had spent an uneventful first night in county lockup. It was his understanding he had been segregated from other prisoners for his own protection. Even among prisoners, there was an unwritten code that it was wrong to harm a child, Johnson said, adding that the only saving grace for Xue was that he was not charged with murder under American law.
If he had been found guilty in the United States he would have been jailed for life without the possibility of parole - or, in some states, even sentenced to death.
To date in New Zealand, the longest jail sentence for murder stands at 33 years. That was given to William Bell in 2003 for killing three people at the Mt Wellington-Panmure Returned Services Association on December 8, 2001.
Johnson said that when Xue arrived at county jail he was very reserved and "looking sad". "That was probably only because he had been caught," he said.
Until Xue was deported to New Zealand, home would be a smallish jail cell. "We're talking about a bunk, toilet and three square meals a day. It's nothing fancy," Johnson said, adding that meals generally were simple.
"We're talking meat and potatoes or a boloney and cheese sandwich.
"Looking at the guy, he obviously likes his food. He hasn't done without that while on the run."
Chief Inspector Tom Hession of the US Marshals told the Herald on Sunday it was a relief Xue - who he described as "cold-hearted" - had finally been found. Hundreds of man hours had been spent on the case with up to 40 officers at one time tracking various leads.
He estimated the cost to US authorities would probably have been around $500,000.
"But it's all worth it in the end. We are reluctant to put a price on these sorts of cases because we don't want that getting in the way of us getting our man."
Hession said he always believed Xue would be caught as language difficulties meant he was drawn to the tight-knit Chinese community.
Given the vast expanse of the United States, he could easily have disappeared but his personality was such that he liked the company of others, Hession said.
