KEY POINTS:
The signature of murder suspect Nai Yin Xue on an American immigration document is likely to speed up his deportation back to New Zealand.
Xue, 53, wanted in New Zealand for the murder of his wife An An Liu and abandoning his three-year-old daughter Qian Xun Xue in a Melbourne train station, was captured in the small town of Chamblee in Atlanta last Friday after nearly six months on the run.
He fled from Melbourne and arrived in Los Angeles before his wife's body had been found in the boot of the family car outside their Mt Roskill home.
New Zealand police liaison officer, Superintendent Sandra Manderson, said Xue waived his legal rights when he signed a document as he entered America in September.
She said the document meant Xue had no legal right to challenge any immigration issues.
Because he had overstayed his visa, Xue was being deported from America, a process which was far quicker than having New Zealand authorities apply to have him extradited.
Xue was being held in a Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention centre in Lumpkin, Stewart County, Georgia, until he could be deported.
"They hoping to do it (deport Xue) by the end of the week but whether that happens depends on the emergency travel documents. They are going through New Zealand and the United States."
She said co operation of the American law enforcement agencies had been outstanding.
Xue was captured in a dramatic citizens' arrest after five months on the run through the southern US states of California, Texas, Alabama, Mississippi and, finally, Georgia.
Six residents of the Atlanta suburb of Chamblee realised Xue was a New Zealand fugitive after reading an article about him in a local Chinese language newspaper.
The six, five men and a woman, were likely to share the $13,500 (US$10,000) reward offered by the New Zealand police to find Xue.
Two Auckland detectives arrived in Atlanta today to talk to the six and other people who knew Xue or were involved in his flight across America.
They would also be interested in talking to Xue if he wanted to talk, said Supt Manderson.
They were also interested in his 1996 Ford Thunderbird which had yet to be found.
- NZPA
