Escaped killer Phillip Smith tracked to Brazil

John Key says he will discuss escaped NZ murderer Phillip Smith when he meets with Chilean President Michelle Bachelet tonight at the APEC Summit in Beijing.

"I'll just let her know that he's someone who could be out there from New Zealand that she may not want to invite round for lunch," the PM joked to media.

In 1995, Smith was arrested after molesting a boy, then stabbing the boy's father to death. He took a plane to Chile last Thursday while on temporary release from Spring Hill Prison in Waikato, travelling on a passport that carried his birth name, Phillip Traynor.

Mr Key said there would be a full inquiry.

"I currently don't have any advice on what the extradition treaty with Chile looks like. There's no guarantee he's still in Chile."

The point is now moot. At a press conference early this morning NZ time Chilean authorities said Smith was only in transit when his fight from Auckland touched down last week. A few hours later he boarded a flight to Sao Paulo, Brazil before catching a connection to Rio de Janeiro. Brazilian authorities have yet to confirm the flight details. The flight to Rio de Janeiro is the last recorded flight on Smith's "Philip Traynor" passport.

Meanwhile, Philip Smith's estranged father has spoken out to media.

"Letting him out ... that was absolute stupidity," John Traynor told the NZ Herald.

"The Parole Board still had doubts about him [earlier this year], his risk to public safety. Why they did actually release him is beyond me. Obviously he is a person who is going to be a menace to society whenever he is released."

Mr Traynor said his son's history of offending after being released on bail was testament to that. The murder and a number of other crimes were committed while Smith was on bail awaiting his next court appearance.

Last year, Justice Warwick Gendall denied Smith parole, stating the Parole Board was satisfied Smith "remains at high risk of posing a serious danger to the community".

The convicted killer also caused controversy in 2008, when it was revealed he was running a business importing Chinese electronics from behind bars.