Editorial: Will a reward catch a killer?

OPINION: Justice and family rights advocates have taken a small but significant chip out of the wall of silence that blocked the investigation into the murders of Chris and Cru Kahui. It has to be hoped that the chip will be enough to make that wall come tumbling down.

The short but wretched lives of the Kahui twins will serve to remind New Zealanders for all time that we have an appalling record of child abuse. There have been many shocking cases of abuse in this country but few are seared as deeply on the national conscience as that of the Kahui twins.

Almost four years after their deaths in Starship Hospital from horrific brain injuries, no-one has been convicted of the double murder and there has been no official inquest. The Kahui case has been difficult and shocking in equal measure for those who have to make sense of it. The police investigation was problematic from the start because of the difficulty in getting the assistance of family members.

The boys' father, Chris Kahui, was finally brought to trial in 2008, but acquitted. His defence tactic was to blame the boys' mother, Macsyna King, but police have never charged her for the murders.

The family's silence has hamstrung the police but the small matter of a $25,000 reward may change that. The money has been put up by advocacy groups Family First, the Sensible Sentencing Trust and the For the Sake of our Children Trust. They are to be congratulated for their initiative.

The money is contingent on securing a conviction. It has to be hoped that is enough to make those who do know who killed the twins – and someone surely does – to speak up.

The reward came after the news that the inquest into the boys' deaths had been postponed. For those who followed the case the postponement was disappointing. It is clearly a complicated case but, if anything good can come from such a tragedy, it has to be improvements to the safety nets that exist to protect children such as Chris and Cru Kahui and so clearly failed in their case.

If no one was to be punished for their deaths, at the very least we could learn from what happened.

Chris Kahui cannot be tried again because of our double jeopardy legislation. By posting the reward the advocacy groups are clearly indicating that they believe the blame lies elsewhere.

Let's be clear. Three month-old twins do not inflict horrific brain injuries on themselves. For it to happen to one is appalling, but for both to die is beyond comprehension. They were defenceless and they died horribly.

We as a nation owe it to them to bring their killer or killers to justice, and we owe it every other child in the country to put protection in place so it never happens again.

- © Fairfax NZ News