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Taxpayers could end up forking out up to $300,000 to cover the legal aid bill for Nai Yin Xue, who is accused of strangling his wife and fleeing to the United States.
Since returning to New Zealand last Monday, Xue has been in isolation at the Auckland Remand Centre. There have been threats to his safety from other inmates angry at the way he dumped his 3-year-old daughter at Melbourne's Southern Cross Railway Station.
Xue's lawyer, Chris Comeskey, confirmed to the Herald on Sunday an application had been lodged for legal aid with the Legal Services Agency. Depending on which way his client pleaded, that bill could be anywhere between $30,000 and $300,000.
Earlier in the week Comeskey signalled he may argue that intense media interest would prejudice Xue's right to a fair trial. But he said this would not be the main thrust of the case.
Xue appeared in the Auckland District Court on Monday, almost six months after sparking an international manhunt. The 53-year-old became a fugitive when 3-year-old Qian Xun Xue, nicknamed Pumpkin, was abandoned last September and he fled to the US.
A few days later the body of his 27-year-old wife An An Liu was found in the boot of one of his cars outside their home in the Auckland suburb of Mt Roskill. After being captured late last month, Xue arrived in Auckland under US guard early on Monday and was charged with his wife's murder.
Xue was visited by two of Comeskey's associates on Friday. Comeskey was unsure whether Xue had asked about Pumpkin or his other daughter, Grace, who lives in Auckland.
