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Is Kiwi killer Alex Lang on the loose in NZ?

Fraudster Alex Lang slipped back into the country after dodging a criminal conviction for murder
Kiwi killer Alex Land sitting at a waterside restaurant

It’s more than 40 years since Alex Lang, who was barely out of primary school on Auckland’s North Shore, began his globetrotting career of crime.

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What began with burning the bags of newspapers he was paid to deliver escalated over decades to fraud and, ultimately, the cold-blooded killing of his wife, as found by a civil court.

Across New Zealand, Australia, Europe and Britain, Lang used a string of aliases and a gifted mathematical mind to chase his fortune. He clocked up more than 30 convictions for dishonesty in the process.

Two wives and a daughter lie dead in his wake. The first, Swedish Ira Kulppi, succumbed to depression and alcoholism. She and her four-year-old Natalie died in a house fire while Lang was in jail in Germany, locked away for stealing $50 million.

Using the name Donald McPherson, a civil court found he killed his second wife, British heiress Paula Leeson, in 2017, drowning her in a swimming pool on holiday. He had secretly taken out life insurance policies worth more than $7 million.

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But now Woman’s Day can reveal that Lang has slipped unnoticed back into New Zealand, having dodged a criminal conviction for murdering 47-year-old Paula, only to be named by the judge as her killer in a civil trial brought by her devastated family in her home city of Manchester.

His own relatives are delighted that Lang has been denied access to Paula’s estate and the insurance money, which he wanted to pay debts from failed property investments. But they’re also fearful for a new partner with whom the 51-year-old has, according to a source close to the British investigation, been living here.

“He’s a psychopath, like a Tinder Swindler,” says a close relative, who asked not to be named. “That’s his lifestyle and however many times he changes his name, he’s not going to change inside.

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“I was thrilled for the Leeson family getting their judgement in court – it’s the least they deserve. But until he’s behind bars, it’s something of a hollow victory and our fear is he will kill again.

“He’s not going to go bush or live on a coconut island. He needs lots of money, and our fear is he will find another victim, take her money and kill again.”

Lang was not in court to hear the damning words from Judge Richard Smith, who said he had held Paula in an armlock around her neck before getting her into the pool, where she subsequently drowned.

He was not even represented at the trial. The judge said Lang was believed to be travelling in the South Pacific. In fact, says our insider, he was already in New Zealand. However, fearing he had been identified because of publicity, he took the opportunity to move house with his new partner.

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Alex Land eating at a waterside restaurant with his first wife Ira
Lang with first wife Ira, who died in a house fire.

None of his life of crime comes as a surprise to family. They saw him grow up in Auckland with his father, British-born Lawrie Lang, an electrician working at Paremoremo Prison, and mother Pam.

“There was always something truly wrong and mean about him. Even when he was a small boy,” said a close relative.

“He has two older sisters – but it was Alex who was the golden child to his mum. The girls were pushed aside, and Pam and Lawrie just constantly doted on him.

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“For Pam, he could do no wrong, but we thought very differently. My husband called him the Poison Dwarf, which sounds cruel, but just look what he went on to do!”

A gifted mathematician, who applied to join NASA as an astronaut aged nine, Lang saved his paper-round money to invest on the stockmarket while still at school, adding earnings from gardening jobs for neighbours he often never completed at all.

“He got away with it for a while,” reveals our source. “Even though his mum Pam was a devout Catholic, she was actually quite proud of him for doing it.”

Pam and Lawrie later moved to a retirement home in Australia, and have never spoken about Lang’s crimes. But Pam’s mother Pat Warren told Woman’s Day, “I never liked him as a grandson. As a child, I knew what he was like. There was something creepy about him. He was someone I could not take to.”

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Alex Lang as a child with other young family members
Lang (in stripes) was a “creepy” child, says his grandmother.

Pat last saw her grandson in about 1999. He brought Ira to Sydney and they went for dinner in Darling Harbour with one of his sisters.

“You could tell Alex was the boss in the marriage,” she tells. “She was under his thumb and he was showing off, buying $100 bottles of Champagne. I just thought, ‘Jeez, where does he get all this money from?’”

In fact, Lang was working in Germany for a commercial bank, using the name Donald Somers. The following year, he took part in an elaborate fraud where people transferred $23 million from a dormant account to associates in Australia. Lang was later jailed for more than three years. During that time, Ira and daughter Natalie died in a fire at their home in Cairns.

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Now both Lang and Paula’s families are hoping Manchester police will reopen their murder inquiry using new evidence from the civil trial.

And they’re pleading with the public to help track Lang’s movements in New Zealand.

“The most important thing is that we want people to stay away from him. He’s a very, very dangerous individual,” says Paula’s brother Neville. “So if anyone sees him, you need to be very cautious and extremely careful. But if you do, please let us know.”

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