Convicted murderer Phillip John Smith fled to Chile on a passport obtained in his birth name of Phillip John Traynor, the police have confirmed.
Smith, now 40, was sentenced to life imprisonment in 1996 for stabbing to death a man in Wellington whose son he had been sexually abusing.
He had earlier tracked the family from the Wairarapa, where he was facing sex charges, to the Wellington suburb of Johnsonville where they were living in a supposedly safe house.
Corrections to do operational review, but believe Smith planned escape for months or years.
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Smith disappeared while on authorised temporary release from Spring Hill prison in Waikato.
A police spokesperson told a press conference this afternoon Smith had gradually worked up to 72-hour releases, and he was on one of these when he absconded.
Corrections, the Department of Internal Affairs and the police were working together to determine how Smith got a passport, made arrangements to leave New Zealand, and who helped him.
A Corrections spokesperson told this afternoon's press conference the department had not failed in its handling of Smith.
