A jury will today consider the guilt of two boys allegedly involved in the death of a west Auckland shopkeeper.

The man suspected of massacring nine people in an historic African American church in South Carolina had been planning an attack for six months and wanted to spark a civil war, says his roommate.

Two years ago President Barack Obama predicted that when it came to averting mass shootings through gun control, "sooner or later, we are going to get this right".

Clementa Pinckney was busy on Thursday, not unusual for a man who was both a respected pastor and state senator in his native South Carolina.

A boy who stabbed a west Auckland shopkeeper to death was retreating and trying to defend himself at the time, his lawyer says.

A Christchurch man has today denied killing his 5-year-old autistic step-son.

United States police were last night searching for a gunman who opened fire at a historic African-American church in downtown Charleston, South Carolina.

The story of a 13-year-old accused's upbringing that was laced with drugs, alcohol and violence has been told in court this morning.

In an exclusive interview with the NZME.News Service, the man cleared of murdering Cissy Chen says he remained calm during the trial through constant prayer.

Cissy Chen's brother says the jury's decision to find her partner not guilty of her murder is "very unfair" to his sister.

The older brother of a 14-year-old boy accused of murder has told the court how his little brother took synthetic drugs and lived in a drug house.

Domestic violence charges against Chinese millionaire Donghua Liu have been dropped.

The oldest of two young boys accused of killing dairy owner Arun Kumar will not testify for his own defence.

A man who was allegedly chased away by neighbours has been charged after a 73-year-old woman was assaulted in her Auckland home.

A jury has been told the circumstantial Crown case over the murder of Cissy Chen relies on “reasoning by inference” but was warned by a judge to avoid speculation.

A man has suffered serious head injuries after an assault on Sunday evening.

The lawyer for Cissy Chen's partner said the case against his client was "100-per-cent circumstantial" and argued the pair had a loving relationship.

Any alternative explanations to Cissy Chen's partner deliberately killing her are "fanciful", the Crown has said while closing its case.

A 14-year-old boy has admitted he lied to police about his involvement because he was scared.

A boy who was with two teens before they allegedly killed a west Auckland dairy owner says the pair were hoping to get rich.

A boy who was with a couple of teens before they allegedly killed an Auckland dairy owner will continue to give evidence today.

A boy who was with two teens before they allegedly killed a West Auckland dairy owner has described seeing one of the alleged weapons stuck to a household fridge.

A boy who was with two teens before they allegedly killed a West Auckland dairy owner says trails of blood led police to the defendant’s front door.

The wife of a man who was stabbed to death in his own shop has broken down in court while recounting the moment she saw blood “pouring out” of his neck wound.

Charges have not been laid against a man who stabbed a 40-year-old Mount Manganui man in the chest during a confrontation.

An Auckland dairy owner’s wife watched in horror as her husband bled to death on the floor of the shop they had owned for five years.

A police officer has denied a domestic assault charge against his partner and will go to trial.

Overblown fears of violent crime will inhibit our enjoyment of the world and invariably feed policies that create more, not fewer, victims, writes Jarrod Gilbert.

A man accused of stabbing a woman to death and attempting to kill a man in central Auckland last week can now be named.

Grieving relatives of two men stabbed to death say the guilty verdicts are welcome.