A man who spent three years infiltrating Auckland's crime networks has uncovered a drug trade on a staggering scale.

One man has been convicted of murder and two others acquitted after a jury accepted they acted in self-defence in the killing of Christchurch man last year.

Living a life ruined by a gunman is horrible, with the mornings worst of all, Kylee Guy told media.

A woman fought for her life in a struggle where a shot was fired into the wall of her bedroom by a man who has admitted a charge of attempted murder.

The body of murdered Aucklander Carmen Thomas is believed to have been dumped in bush southeast of Auckland.

Police visited the workplace of missing escort Carmen Thomas' ex-partner while he was out of the office.

A mum on trial for the murder of her baby denies intentionally drowning the 13-month-old, saying accusations she was a murderer were "not true".

John Barlow was jailed in 1995 for the execution-style killings of Wellington father and son businessmen Eugene and Gene Thomas.

The police hunt for the killer of Carmen Thomas today moved to rural southeast Auckland, after a newly reported sighting of her car around the time she went missing.

Police investigating the death of Carmen Thomas will tomorrow concentrate on a rural area 30km southeast of central Auckland.

A woman accused of leaving her baby boy to drown in the bath suffered from bipolar disorder and was having a severe depressive episode at the time of his death, the woman's lawyer said today.

Her mother burned to death in a fire. Her aunt died after falling from a building and she was sexually abused a year after her father died in a plane crash.

A senior Queensland constable brutally bashed three tourists while on duty.

Calls to change procedures after a notorious killer was able to write a letter to a juror have been called into doubt by the Law Society.