Of Ngāti Tūwharetoa descent, King was born in Whanganui and grew up in Tūrangi,[2] where his father was a prison officer.
"[1] In 2003, in conjunction with trial lawyer Mike Antunovic, King unsuccessfully took the Scott Watson case to the Privy Council in London seeking leave to appeal his convictions for double murder.
[6] In 2012, King successfully defended Ewen MacDonald on the charge of murdering his brother-in-law Scott Guy, a long arduous case which generated huge public interest, including televised court reports.
The first of these, R v Timoti [2006] 1 NZLR 323, 21 CRNZ 804, resulted in the overturning of a murder conviction from 1999, with the appeal focusing on the partial defence of provocation.
"[1] King was the creator and host of The Court Report, a weekly television programme dealing with contemporary legal issues.
The coroner revealed that King left a suicide note in which he described himself as "exhausted, unwell, depressed and haunted by the dead from his numerous homicide cases."
King's wife, Catherine Milnes-King, told the coroner that her husband was publicly slated after the trial of Ewen Macdonald, whom he successfully defended and who was acquitted of murdering Feilding farmer Scott Guy.
"[11] Law Society president Jonathan Temm said: "Throughout his career he represented clients who were often unpopular and he did that with real ability and determination."