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The 25-year old Cantabrian using cricket to change the lives of Sri Lanka's slum kids. And, Brenda Lin, the sole survivor of a horrific massacre that claimed the lives of her entire family.

Miriama Kamo presents Sunday, award-winning investigations into the stories that matter, from a team of the country's most experienced journalists.

Primary Title
  • Sunday
Date Broadcast
  • Sunday 5 March 2017
Start Time
  • 19 : 30
Finish Time
  • 20 : 30
Duration
  • 60:00
Channel
  • TVNZ 1
Broadcaster
  • Television New Zealand
Programme Description
  • Miriama Kamo presents Sunday, award-winning investigations into the stories that matter, from a team of the country's most experienced journalists.
Episode Description
  • The 25-year old Cantabrian using cricket to change the lives of Sri Lanka's slum kids. And, Brenda Lin, the sole survivor of a horrific massacre that claimed the lives of her entire family.
Classification
  • Not Classified
Owning Collection
  • Chapman Archive
Broadcast Platform
  • Television
Languages
  • English
Captioning Languages
  • English
Captions
Live Broadcast
  • No
Rights Statement
  • Made for the University of Auckland's educational use as permitted by the Screenrights Licensing Agreement.
...proudly brought to you by Mazda. Tonight on Sunday, the power of sport to change lives. When you're passionate about something, it just feels right. Everywhere you go, you'll see kids playing cricket, and it's really in their blood. But off the pitch... You have to be the sailor of the ship. Just to see the smile on the kids' faces is worth a million bucks. And we're backing from the best. This young Kiwi's goals go deep. And when you hear some of the issues, it's, um... Yeah. Sorry. I felt like I knew my uncle and he's this amazing guy. The uncle who massacred her entire family. My goodness. She was living with her family's murderer. That is just yet another awful aspect of an awful tale. I think I've spent all day with a murderer. Why did he do it? I also don't think that something like this would warrant him to kill five people. Now the truth can be told. Did he ever hurt you? Captions by Madison Batten. Captions were made possible with funding from NZ On Air. Copyright Able 2017 Kia ora, I'm Miriama Kamo. What a huge week for Kiwi cricket. Martin Guptill's 180 was one of the season's highlights. Well, tonight, we meet a young cricketer who's putting a very different spin on the game. Alex Reece is a Cantabrian using sport to transform the lives of underprivileged kids on the other side of the world. He's discovered that a dusty cricket pitch can be the gateway to life-changing experiences. Jehan Casinader paid Alex a visit in Colombo, Sri Lanka. In Sri Lanka, nothing gets in the way of a cricket match. (ALL CHEER) Not even the 37-degree heat. Everywhere you go, you'll see kids playing cricket. And it's really in their blood. Doesn't matter what religion you are, what colour you are, what your last name is. It's able to break down social barriers. Alex Reece is using his love of cricket to give Sri Lanka's poorest kids a shot at success on and off the field. They are taking part in something that I took for granted as a kid, and that's really special He's an outstanding young man. He has a vision. He wants people to come along for the ride. At 25, Alex has swapped the comforts of Christchurch for the colour and chaos of Colombo. I was a little bit nervous when I first came to Sri Lanka. I was nervous because I'd heard about the past, the 30-year civil war that just annihilated the country. (GUNSHOTS, EXPLOSION) More recently the Boxing Day tsunami that wiped out most of the southern and eastern coastline. But as soon as I arrived here, I was put at ease. Although he can't speak their language, Alex shares a more important bond with these kids. Cricket's been a massive part of my life. My great grandfather used to play and captain New Zealand back in the day. I never set the world alight, but just loved it. Planning to become an elite cricket coach, he travelled to India after finishing high school. At that time I was pretty young and naive. I made a real effort to connect with the locals and get to know the locals. And that was really the moment where I thought, 'Actually, these guys don't have a lot. 'They struggle every day to put food on the table.' You've got two options ` you can do something or you can just say, 'Nah, it's too hard.' Alex had a bold idea. He wanted to start his own cricket academy for underprivileged kids. He set his sights on Sri Lanka, a country that's produced some of the game's biggest stars. Cricket has always been a passion of mine, and I know it well. When you're passionate about something, it just feels right. At a school in one of Colombo's poorest suburbs, Alex gathered his first 50 students. At no point do we ask them, 'Are you a good cricketer?' The main goal is to help them learn. We try our best to give the opportunity to kids who are simply struggling for guidance and direction. They can end up going to university, being doctors, lawyers... Whatever they want to be. 13-year-old Ashen Udara is one of the lucky ones. Ashen is a... He's a little gem. He's just a salt-of-the-earth boy that turns up to class always looking immaculate. He's quite a serious boy, but when he smiles, he can light up a room. TRANSLATOR: I came this far because of the lessons they gave us. So I'm very happy. This is the humble home Ashen shares with his granddad. He really is the father figure in Ashen's life. TRANSLATOR: I'm a carpenter. I don't earn much. But if he needs a pair of shoes, then I will somehow get a pair of shoes for him. Sunil does the best he can. But life is still tough. For three decades, Sri Lanka was in the grip of a brutal civil war. That war ended six years ago, but it left the economy in ruins. Many families still struggle to make a living and to provide a good life for their kids. They might earn $3 ` $5 a day, some up to $10. And that's what they spend on that day, so they wake up the next morning with nothing and have to do it all over again. What happens when they don't have a good monsoon season and they can't grow vegetables? Or what happens when the weather's terrible and they're a fisherman and they can't go out and catch fish to sell? What happens is you don't have any money. Some of Alex's most talented students are struggling for survival. What are some of the deeper issues in those families? A lot of the issues are very similar to what we have back home. There's alcoholism and drug abuse. So you end up getting sexual abuse, domestic abuse, domestic violence. Alex admits he's no social worker, but he feels responsible for the kids in his programme. It's actually quite hard to talk about because you try and distance yourself away from these problems because you have to be the sailor of the ship. And when you hear some of the issues, it's, um... Yeah. Sorry. (TENDER MUSIC) What's tough about it? (TENDER MUSIC CONTINUES) You don't want to see people's dreams crushed by the family that they're born into. You don't want people to be born without opportunities. And a lot of people need help, but there's nothing there to help them. Alex was motivated to work even harder. After some intense fundraising, he launched the Cricket Live Foundation. We form an agreement with local low-decile government schools, and we provide infrastructure, so cricket nets, we level the grounds, we re-sow grass and we help renovate classrooms. Alex is hiring and training teachers and cricket coaches. They run this free three-year programme hoping to improve the prospects of children in need. We had kids cleaning their teeth with sticks. And for me it was a bit of a shock. What are the life skills you teach these kids? Health, sanitation, you know, general hygiene, brushing your teeth, using soap, huge factors. Alex's idea caught the eye and heart of one of our cricket legends. I just loved his vision. You know, he's a young man who wants to do some good for other people less fortunate. Sir Richard Hadlee, the perfect patron for Cricket Live. I've spent a lot of time in Sri Lanka on cricket tours, and I've seen how keen these youngsters are playing cricket on the streets, basically, with bare feet, little in the way of proper cricket gear. To give them that chance to learn life skills and values through cricket, I think, is a wonderful thing. But Alex is a realist. Unfortunately there's no way we can take every kid, and every time you have a good moment where you see a kid succeed, you know that there's millions of others that aren't. Coming up ` can Alex's hard work really make a difference? What we witnessed this week was nothing short of incredible. Plus the private schoolboys leaving Christchurch to lend a hand. You don't really get how lucky you are until you come to a place like this. 1 Somewhere down there on the streets of Sri Lanka's capital, six Kiwi schoolboys are kicking off an adventure. One of them on the phone was talking to his mum and saying how scary it was and how different it was, and it is. Jetlagged and hungry, they head out for lunch. These guys are 15- and 16-year-olds; for them to have curry for breakfast and lunch is huge. But even placing an order proves, well,... tricky. It's a very interesting age to go to a country like this. It looks like... oh, no, that's meat. And it will teach them great things. The laughs are short-lived. How's the spice? The boys are really here to help Alex Reece, who's sharing cricket tips... Catch! ...and life skills with some of Colombo's poorest kids. They are basically extra arms and legs. They're mentors for new kids coming through. Alex is a wonderful man. He's such a great mentor for me. Rupert Whyte has given up his school holidays to be here. It's been pretty eye-opening. I learnt so many things that I just never could have learnt back home. Rupert and his mates study at Canterbury's prestigious Christ's College. Being at home, you just don't understand what it's actually like living in poverty. It just makes me feel extremely lucky. They're star players in the school's first eleven. It's quite a mental game, cricket. There is quite a bit of skill, but a lot of the game is mental. Rupert is following in the footsteps of Alex, who honed his cricket skills right here. I was very privileged growing up. College taught me to think outside the box, to be an individual and not conform to the status quo. Over the past four years, Alex has seen Sri Lanka's challenges. He has also discovered its beauty. As soon as you arrive here, you're gobsmacked, and you're blown away by what this country has to offer. (UPBEAT MUSIC) But you won't find this on a tourist map. This week is a big week for us. It's the end-of-year Cricket Live premier league. It gives them the chance to play matches ` like their superstars that they follow on TV. We'll come to the grounds an hour early, and there'll be kids already turned up in their fresh whites, which they probably would have washed themselves, to be honest. And they're just so happy to be there. Alex's foundation gives these kids their uniforms, cricket gear, and for some, their very first pair of shoes. The uniform represents quite a lot. For them, it's the first thing that they've ever really owned. It also represents something that sets them apart from other people in the community. How would you describe your bond with these kids? It's a relationship that's almost like an older brother, really, which is quite cool. Ashen is buzzing after a stellar year. He got two centuries and took about 14 wickets in two games, so yeah, he's one to watch. TRANSLATOR: I didn't realise that getting a century was a big deal. Before Cricket Live, we didn't even know how to play properly. Now we have some experience and good coaching, I want to get more centuries. But just as important as cricket is classwork. Extra lessons have helped the Cricket Live kids to double their results. Ashen's granddad says he has a new sense of confidence. TRANSLATOR: All the parents and grandparents are so grateful to Alex. We wish we could tell him how grateful we are. The only problem is that we don't understand him because we don't know enough English. We have grown men and women with tears in their eyes, thanking us. And that's pretty humbling. Humbling, too, for Rupert. It's his third time volunteering in Sri Lanka. Having experiences like this at such a young age can really change the trajectory of your life. And just knowing you're helping others can be so much more rewarding than just helping yourself. Alex's work is continuing New Zealand's cricket legacy. Sir Richard Hadlee has seen the proof. Just to see the smile on the kids' faces is worth a million bucks. What's it like having Sir Richard's endorsement? I's almost a bit surreal. You're halfway round the world with someone you idolised as a kid. And now he's someone that I can call on for honest guidance. Wouldn't it be wonderful if one, two or three of these youngsters go on to represent their country. That would be a phenomenal story. (SPEAKS SINHALESE) Welcome everyone. It's a real privilege to be standing up here in front of such a colourful crowd today. What is your hope for Ashen's future? If Ashen continues to do well with cricket and he plays cricket for Sri Lanka, fantastic. That would be a really special moment, but it's not the objective of this programme. Success for me is Ashen doing something with his life that he is passionate about. Ashen Udara. (APPLAUSE) Ashen has been named player of the year. He's a great sportsman, but he's also, more importantly, a fantastic kid. Alex is changing the lives of 400 children, but this unexpected journey is changing him too. It's put in perspective what really matters. The best gift is being able to tell someone that you're here for them. And we just want to give kids the childhood that they deserve. Oh, what a wonderful thought. Alex plans to expand Cricket Live to other developing countries. If you'd like to support his charity, head to our Facebook page. And we'd like to thank the Asia New Zealand Foundation for helping us to report from Sri Lanka. Well, up next, she was the sole survivor of her family's murders. Five of them killed by another relative, but one that Brenda had never suspected. My goodness. She was living with her family's murderer. That is just yet another awful aspect of an awful tale. How long was it before you noticed the blood? I've never seen such raw grief in my life. It was overwhelming grief. 1 Welcome back. She was the sole survivor. Brenda Lin's family ` five of them ` were killed on a winter's night by a cold-blooded killer. After the massacre, Brenda Lin went to live with her uncle. Little did she know, he was the killer and that, in fact, she was the target. Tonight we meet Brenda Lin, a young woman still struggling to come to terms with a terrible crime, still grieving for her family, and find out how the police cracked this horrendous crime. Melissa Doyle with the story. I'd go to my friends house, and you'd see their parents and their families. And I'd know that... I would never have that. And when I see families now, I sort of smile to myself, and I think that's absolutely lovely, but it's also very bittersweet. It reminds me of what I don't have... and probably never will. MAN ON PHONE: Police emergency. WOMAN: What's wrong? Why do you think someone's dying? (HORRIFIED YELL) In one unthinkable night in this middle-class suburban house on Sydney's leafy North Shore, Australia's most horrific family massacre. Five members of Brenda Lin's family bludgeoned to death in their bedrooms. Brenda's mum, Lily, her father, Min, her little brothers, Henry and Terry, and her aunt, Irene. Brenda was 15. Her family's only survivor. And the person she turned to for help and a safe home was her uncle Robert. Brenda had no idea what he'd done or how much danger she was in. The Lin family's life in Australia is typical of so many migrant success stories. Brenda's mum and dad, Lily and Min, migrated from China as students. They met in Sydney and fell in love. Brenda was their firstborn. Next came Henry. He really loved tennis and badminton. Easy to talk to and very much like my dad, I think, in that sense. And three years later, Terry was born. He used to follow me around everywhere, and I definitely felt like the big, bossy sister. Lily's sister, Brenda's aunt, Irene, also moved into their two-storey family house at Epping. She helped out by working part-time at the family's thriving news agency. The business kept Brenda's dad, Min, busy seven days a week. There were also regular family get-togethers with Brenda's aunt Kathy and Uncle Robert. He was an ear, nose and throat specialist in China and after migrating to Australia, opened a restaurant in Melbourne, which failed. They moved to Sydney ` just around the corner from the Lin family. But Uncle Robert was not all that he seemed. He was secretly jealous of the success of Brenda's family and their news agency. He also harboured unspeakable desires. The target ` his niece, Brenda. She had no idea. I felt like I knew my uncle, and he's this amazing guy. He's my family. In July 2009, Brenda was in year 10 at one of Sydney's leading public high schools. Quiet. Studious. I've had a look at past reports, and she, even then, had a very close group of friends and worked very well and co-operative with other students. But a very intelligent girl. As part of her studies, Brenda signed up for a school excursion to practise French in New Caledonia. The night before leaving, she recalls being nervous and excited. I hugged my mother, told her I'd miss her a lot, went back upstairs, went back into bed, got out of bed, went to go see Henry ` he was in the room opposite me ` and tell him that I'd miss him a lot as well and, 'Have fun without me, but I'll be back soon.' The next morning her dad, Min, drove Brenda to the airport, where her school friends were saying emotional goodbyes to their parents. A lot of them were in tears saying they'd miss them a lot. And... And as a teenager, I was trying to be cool, and I was thinking, 'You guys are just being absolutely ridiculous.' So my dad stood next to me. We, sort of, stood there awkwardly. I, sort of, looked at him, and I didn't say anything. I didn't say anything to him. I just, sort of, watched everyone else be emotional, And... I thought it was ridiculous. And... then we all left. And that's the last time I saw him. I know... I just wish I told him that he's an amazing person and thank you for doing... doing everything for us. MAN ON PHONE: What's wrong? WOMAN: Why do you think someone's dying? (INDISTINCT, PANICKED VOICE) We are coming. Can you see the bodies? (PANICKED YELLING) You can see the police car now? In three bedrooms were five bodies. All of Brenda's family had been brutally murdered. REPORTER: The bodies were found by a family member just before 10 this morning. The cause of death is yet to be established, and the bodies remain in situ. News of the massacre quickly spread. Brenda was in New Caledonia with a girlfriend, looking at Facebook. One of my friends sent over a link to a news article, and it had a photo of my house. And I go... 'That's my house.' It was such` Sorry. (SNIFFS) It was such a surreal, sort of, feeling. I didn't believe it. 'That's not possible. That's someone else.' I don't know. I was just in so much shock. Immediately my phone started ringing from parents in the community and teachers who live in the community to ensure that I was aware that it was one of our families. The principal of Brenda's school, Susan Bridge, began arranging help and support for her year 10 student. And I wanted to make sure that she was safe. Brenda caught the next flight home. We got to Sydney airport, and the police met us there, walked us through to this room, and there was my aunt and uncle and cousin. As soon as I saw my aunt, she gave me this massive hug. She was crying as well. That's when I knew it was all real. (TENSE MUSIC) At the crime scene in Epping, police were piecing together how the calculated and brutal attack had unfolded. Brenda's mum and dad, Lily and Min, were bludgeoned to death with a hammer-like object as they slept. The killer moved quickly down the hallway to Aunt Irene's room and bashed her to death. Then the killer turned on 12-year-old Henry and 9-year-old Terry. Anything you may say or do will be recorded on DVD, video and audio, and may later be used in evidence in court. Do you understand that? Uncle Robert had discovered the crime scene with his wife, Kathy. How long was it before you noticed the blood? He was interviewed extensively by police. His car was seized. And within a few weeks, he and his wife were running the Lin family news agency. During police interrogations, Uncle Robert claimed he was horrified by the murders. It doesn't bear the hallmarks of a typical home invasion in that we haven't established that anything was stolen from the home. Detectives suspected the killer had a key to the house, knew its layout and knew the family well. Uncle Robert even made an appeal to catch the killer. People who haven't experienced this cannot feel what we are experiencing. If anyone can help, please contact the police. Uncle Robert was among the hundreds of mourners at the funeral. The enormity of the tragedy evident in a slow, painful procession of five coffins. Brenda recorded a message for the service. Mum, where are you? Why did you leave? Now that you have gone, who am I gonna share my secrets with? Who is gonna fuss over me every single day? I miss you. I miss you... so much. (SOMBRE MUSIC) I was just so amazed by the turnout, how the school had organised a bus to take all the girls there. SUSAN BRIDGE: I've been to funerals before. I've wept for people. I've never seen such raw grief in my life. Um... It` It was torrential grief. Um, it was overwhelming grief. Her grandparents were distraught. And while I absolutely respect it and it was very moving, there was no room in that grief for a 15-year-old girl. (SPEAKS CHINESE) They were... torn apart by grief. I'd go to the cemetery, and on the headstone, they're all there. And I won't be there with them. (EXHALES) The murders had left Brenda an orphan. Where was she going to live? I really wanted to go home. I was just imagining myself living there on my own for the rest of my life. I don't know why, but... I really wanted to go home. We went there, but it was just so scary walking in. Yeah. It just reminds you of it, so... Brenda was just 15 ` too young to live alone. So she moved in here to the family she felt closest to ` her aunt Kathy and uncle Robert. Brenda had no idea she was now living under the same roof as the killer. Well, up next, the bombshell ` Brenda's evidence that provided the police with a motive to the massacre. Brenda revealed something that she didn't think was relevant to the murder trial, but which I thought was. The prosecution claims Robert Xie's motive for murder was his sexual obsession with his niece. He killed her whole family, everyone she loved, so Brenda would be forced to live under his roof. 1 Five members of the Lin family are dead. The killer has not been found. The sole survivor, Brenda Lin, contemplates returning to live in the home. But she's 15 and needs someone to care for her. She moved just across the park, here into the home of Aunt Kathy and Uncle Robert. My aunt and uncle, they were the substitute family I had, and I lived with them for a long time. They took me to school, made my school lunches. If I needed anything done, they'd help me out. They were the next best thing to my family. But school principal Susan Bridge had serious doubts about who Brenda had chosen to live with. She'd witnessed a disturbing encounter between Brenda and her uncle Robert. # A spider web is tangled up with me. # He was so physically very close and face only this far away, speaking loudly, rapidly, in Chinese. Brenda with her head bowed down, tears falling down. It was clear he was trying to get her to agree to something. I did feel that I had seen a side of Robert that was a potentially dangerous side. What did you say to your husband that night when you went home? 'I think I've spent all day with a murderer.' She told me she went home and said to her husband that night, 'I just had lunch with a murderer.' She knew then? How did she know? He was definitely not a murderer in my eyes. He was just an uncle. A family guy. That was it. A year after the murders, Uncle Robert had become a prime person of interest to the homicide investigators. Have you got any idea who may have been responsible for the murders? Have you thought about who may have been responsible? Bloody footprints at the crime scene matched the size and style of a pair of Asics Gel-Evation joggers owned by Uncle Robert. The only bedroom where there were no bloody footprints was Brenda's, suggesting the killer must have known she was not at home at the time. I just got a gut feeling that he was a dangerous person. And I was very worried for Brenda's safety. I did share those with the police, but that was all I could do. I mean, what else could I do? Susan introduced Brenda to a lawyer, Patrick Parkinson. He too began to suspect Uncle Robert, even though Brenda didn't think it was possible. I think she didn't believe he was` could have been guilty for a very, very long time. And I'm sure that that was an important mechanism for her to cope with it. How could one believe that your uncle has murdered the rest of your family? But evidence against the uncle was mounting. Police installed cameras in his home and recorded him destroying a shoe box that matched the shoes worn by the killer. They put some secret cameras into the house, and there was evidence of him taking that shoe box and cutting it up and flushing it down the toilet. And in Uncle Robert's garage under a chest of drawers, one of the most damning pieces of evidence ` a smear of human genetic material known as stain 91. It matches the DNA of several of the victims. According to the best expertise that the prosecution could bring forward, at least, seemed to indicate the mixed DNA of four of the victims. On May 5 2011, nearly two years after the Lin family murders, Brenda's uncle, Robert Xie, was arrested. He was surprised, I think, to have the police arrive at his door. An absolute shock. I knew he didn't do it because... he's a family member, and I knew him. But during the first trial, Brenda was forced, for the first time, to confront all of the evidence police had gathered against her uncle. The blood in the garage, the footprints matching his shoes, the knowledge of the house. And the uncle was secretly recorded in jail confessing to a cellmate that he'd sedated his wife Kathy in order to sneak out of their house unnoticed. Realising that he might be involved was something that was... life-changing. Something that was... yeah, completely eye-opening. Is there anything else you wanna tell me about him? Things he may have... done? How he ever made you feel? (SIGHS) I think... at the time after the murders, he... And as a teenager myself, I was very insecure, very... I didn't know what I was doing, and And he knew that. He read it very well. Uncle Robert had taken advantage of Brenda at her most vulnerable and in the most despicable way. But she found the strength to trust her lawyer with the shocking truth. She revealed Uncle Robert had been sexually abusing her since before the murders. Brenda revealed something that she didn't think was relevant to the murder trial, um, but which I thought was. And so I think the trial judge had no choice but to start the trial all over again. On the opening day of the second trial, sensational new evidence. The prosecution claims Robert Xie's motive for murder was his sexual obsession with his niece. He killed her whole family, everyone she loved, so Brenda would be forced to live under his roof. Do you remember the moment you realised that maybe this was part of his motivation to do what he did? For a moment, I did think that, but... I also don't think that something like this would warrant him to kill five people. I don't know what goes through his mind, and... I can't be sure. I don't think I ever will be sure about why he was motivated to do what he did. (TENSE MUSIC) REPORTERS: Mr Xie! Justice would take years. The second trial was aborted when the judge fell ill. The third trial ended in a hung jury and Uncle Robert being released on bail. I'm grateful to be home, and I'll continue to fight for my innocence. (CLEARS THROAT) At about 10 am... In January this year, the jury in the fourth trial convicted Robert Xie of five murders. You are sentenced to imprisonment for life. Brenda's evidence of sexual abuse had been supressed by the court. It was finally addressed by the judge, as she sentenced Robert Xie to five life terms in jail. The court was told that he was driven to commit the unthinkable crime by a sick and depraved obsession with Brenda. It's still fairly strange having all these people who know so much more about me. And also is it... not wanting to have this define who you are? Because you are so much more than what happened to you? I hope that's the case. I hope people can see that as well. Well, still to come, Brenda's got a positive outlook for her future, but there's a single relative who continues to believe Uncle Robert is not guilty of the five murders. He is innocent. We believe that he is innocent. We will keep fighting for him. When I gave evidence, I told the truth. And she used to send me messages saying that he was innocent, he was being framed by the police. 1 Welcome back. Eight years after the murders, and Brenda Lin is living in Sydney and getting on with life. She'll soon finish university, and her school mates continue to stay close friends. 'Oh, they're going off to talk about something. Oh, let's come back over.' I feel like this was sometimes the serious discussion table. (CHUCKLES) Once Brenda came back after everything had happened, we all just really looked after each other, which was really nice. Special. Under this tree, after the murders, Bec and Pip were part of Brenda's group. In the simplest ways, they helped her through the darkest of times. Treating her just as normal was the only way we knew how, um, and just felt right, just to do normal teenage things. Just hang out, watch movies and do makeup and hang out as we'd always done. It just felt really right. These friends have remained close to Brenda in the years since her uncle Robert murdered her family. His wife, her aunt Kathy, still refuses to believe he's guilty. He is innocent. We believe that he is innocent. We will keep fighting for him. I was very hurt and disappointed by that because when I... when I gave evidence, I told the truth. And she used to send me messages saying that he was innocent. He was being framed by the police. I hope one day she can realise that... all I did was tell the truth. She's better off not with him. Hello. A key person in Brenda's journey back to some kind of normal life is her high school principal, Susan Bridge. How have you been? I've been fine. Take a seat. Let's catch up. Yes, definitely. She talks with Brenda regularly about life, family and the future. I learnt as much from Brenda as anything I may have given her. What did you learn from Brenda? I was always worried that she wouldn't remember how to love, that that would be something that was also taken from her. I needn't have worried. She... she taught me that love is the most important thing. But dad Min, mum Lily, little brothers Terry and Henry and aunt Irene are never far from Brenda's thoughts. How do you honour them? I like to be someone... they're proud of. I'm just doing the things they would have wanted me to do and would have liked me to have done. So how do you see your future? What do you want to do? I'm sure that I would like to do something to help other people in the future. I want to be able to show kindness to people, to others, the way they've shown kindness to me, because it made a very, very big impact to who I am now and what I have now. And I'm extremely, extremely grateful. She's pretty extraordinary, isn't she? That was very brave, a very personal thing to share. And we wish, of course, Brenda well. Well, that's our show for tonight. Do join us on Facebook and Twitter, SundayTVNZ.