Jurors have begun their deliberations in the racially charged trial of a US neighbourhood watch volunteer accused of murderingunarmed black teenager Trayvon Martin.

Albert DeSalvo Investigators in Boston have made a major breakthrough in one of America's most infamous unsolved killing sprees with the help of advances in DNA technology and a water bottle discarded by an unwitting relative of the main suspect.

Police have received a number of calls about a light-coloured van which may hold the key to finding the killer of Auckland teenager Jane Furlong.

David Bain does not know whether to laugh or cry about so-called "new" evidence said to clear him of murdering his family but which went unnoticed 19 years.

Police investigating the 1993 death of Jane Furlong are looking for a light coloured Morris van or similar.

David Bain supporter Joe Karam says a second set of photos of Robin Bain's thumb support the theory that the sooty parallel marks were from gunpowder residue.

The grieving family of murder victim Derek Round have expressed relief at his killer's guilty plea.

The man accused of killing veteran journalist Derek Round in Wanganui last year has pleaded guilty to murder.

Two teenagers have been charged with manslaughter following the death of an Auckland schoolboy.

Police have dismissed the Bain case "slam dunk" as an "interesting theory" which has been taken out of context.

Police have responded to new evidence that suggests Robin Bain murdered his family, saying marks on a photograph "can always be open to interpretation".

Two small marks on Robin Bain's thumb suggest that he, and not his son David, was the person who loaded the gun that killed his Dunedin family.

By the time she was 5 months old, baby Jhia Rolleston had been punched, thrown and shaken by her mother's partner.

A man arrested over a spate of home invasions targeting elderly women has appeared in the Auckland District Court today.

The family of slain pizza-maker Jordan Voudouris have made the difficult journey back to where he was killed exactly a year ago.

Paeroa locals say they are frustrated that a year after their popular pizza man was shot his killer is still at large.

Police are investigating photos appearing to show celebrity chef Nigella Lawson being choked by her husband during a row at a London restaurant.

Mark Lundy's last-ditch attempt to clear his name begins tomorrow night (NZ time) when his appeal against a double murder conviction goes before the Privy Council in London.

A prolonged and cruel Valentine's Day attack on a Dunedin man has ended in jail for two of his friends - the offenders.

The family of Auckland schoolboy Stephen Dudley hope his death will serve as a constant reminder of the tragic, unintended consequences that violence can have.

A member of the public is being praised for rescuing a man from a brutal robbery and assault on the streets of Ngaruawahia early on Friday.