New Zealand media said the process might take two weeks.

Six Chinese immigrants whom Xue had stayed with in a suburb of Atlanta, Georgia, captured him on Thursday, ending his five months on the run.

They lured him with a money-making scheme when they suspected him of being the fugitive who had been in the headlines.

Police found Xue, who often boasted of his martial arts skills, whimpering with his pants pulled down and his hands tied with his belt

'There wasn't a spark left in him,' Atlanta assistant police chief Mark Bender was reported as saying.

Xue is suspected of having murdered his wife Anan Liu, 27, in New Zealand. He later abandoned his daughter Qian Xun in Melbourne before escaping to the US.

His mother-in-law Liu Xiaoping said after his arrest: 'I am very happy. This man will be brought to justice.'

AP