Murder, he wrote

The mad, bad, dangerous parade of alleged criminals has long been fodder for journalist Steve Braunias, and last year's Polkinghorne trial inspired a book.

- Steve Braunias

And then there was the time I took tea, served by a grovelling minion, with a man accused of butchering two men to death with two knives. One weapon was a hunting knife with an image of a howling wolf on the handle. The other was a steak knife purchased for $3 from the Daiso Japan bargain store on Queen St, Auckland, where I went to buy an exact replica. It was pretty sharp.

For a few years afterwards I would conceal it in my briefcase, and take it out with a dramatic flourish whenever I gave talks to schoolchildren: good morning class, I am a death correspondent.

"You will like it," he commanded. "Best tea. Quality." His name was Cheng Qi "Chris" Wang. The two dead men were Zhuo “Michael” Wu and Yishan “Tom” Zhong. Chris, Michael, Tom - the made-up names signalled their attempt to make better lives for themselves in the Southern Hemisphere. It ended in tragedy.

Wang was charged with double murder. He achieved fairly liberal bail conditions and I visited him at his home before the trial. I had interviewed a real estate salesman who dealt with him and he made a curious remark: "I'd go around and it wasn't unusual for Chris to be out in his kitchen, because when you live like a pauper, you live in the kitchen." We sat at either end of a long table in a dark kitchen. The only things in it were his manservant and a grandfather clock. Neither moved.