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China-born New Zealand

A Chinese-born fugitive accused of murdering his wife in New Zealand and abandoning his three-year-old daughter in Australia has been captured in the US, officials said yesterday.

Naiyin Xue, 53, was arrested in Atlanta, Georgia, according to Detective Senior Sergeant Simon Scott, the officer leading the probe into the murder of the fugitive's wife, Anan Liu.

"Details around how and when Mr Xue will be returned to New Zealand to face trial for the alleged murder of his wife will be worked on over the coming days and weeks," Scott said.

He is accused of murdering his wife, 27, in New Zealand last September and then fleeing to Australia, where he abandoned his daughter, Qianxun Xue, at a Melbourne railway station before taking a flight to the US.

The alarm was raised when the child was found crying by the bottom of a station escalator. Surveillance cameras recorded her father leaving her there some 15 minutes earlier.

The child has since been taken back to China to live with her maternal grandmother.

It was not immediately clear if Naiyin Xue had been involved in criminal activity in the US, where he was on the most wanted list.

America's Most Wanted reported on its Web site that he was captured after being recognized by local Chinese-Americans who "hogtied" him and called police.

Benny Estorga, administrative officer with the Pacific Southwest Regional Fugitive Task Force of the US Marshals Service, confirmed that account.

"We can confirm that he was apprehended in Atlanta today by members of his own Chinese community, where I guess he recently arrived, about one month ago," Estorga said.

"The Chinese nationals, they recognized him," Estorga said. "His acquaintances tipped off local authorities after seeing news reports about Xue."

When police arrived, they found him with his hands tied behind his back and his trousers pulled down to his ankles to prevent him escaping.

Mark Bender, the Chamblee assistant police chief, told the New Zealand Press Association that Xue at first denied he was a fugitive and gave police several names.

"They decided to arrest him based on that and when they searched him they found his New Zealand driver's license in his wallet with his real name in it," he said.

The New Zealand police representative in the US, Superintendent Sandra Manderson, said Xue would be returned to New Zealand to face murder charges, but she did not know when.

Police in Australia also want Xue so he can face charges over abandoning his daughter, who was dubbed "Pumpkin" by police at the time she was found.
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