The Ministry of Justice has confirmed to NZME News Service the legal aid bill for Lundy's defence came in at more than $1.77m.
Lundy was found guilty at a retrial earlier this year of murdering his wife Christine and daughter Amber (7) in a frenzied axe attack in their Palmerston North home in 2000.
Under legal aid rates, the defence team of leading London lawyer David Hislop QC, Ross Burns and Julie-Anne Kincade can each charge $159 an hour.
They had six months to submit their final invoices, which aren't all paid into their pockets.
It includes defence expert witness expenses and other costs.
By comparison, the legal-aid bill for the David Bain retrial was $3.3m. Clayton Weatherston's trial cost $400,000 in legal aid, and Ewen Macdonald's $271,000.
On the other side of the lawyers' benches, Crown Law paid lead prosecutor Philip Morgan, QC, about $210,000 for his role in the case from October 2013, when the retrial was ordered by the Privy Council, to April this year.
He was paid at the Crown rate of $198 an hour.
Fellow prosecutor Ben Vanderkolk was paid from the Palmerston North Crown solicitor's annual bulk funding.
Lundy was jailed in 2002 and spent 13 years behind bars after being found guilty. He was released after the Privy Council ruled the case was a miss-carriage of justice.
After the second guilty verdict Lundy was immediately ordered to resume his life sentence, with a 20-year minimum period.
It had previously been reported that the initial police investigation cost about $1.3m. The cost of the second investigation had reached $1.7m earlier this year.
Lundy is appealing the retrial verdict. No date has been set yet.
The Crown case at the original trial was that Lundy, who was down in Wellington on business on August 29, 2000, dashed home and killed the pair about 7pm, cleaned up and headed back to Wellington, where cellphone records placed him just before 8.30pm.
At the re-trial, the Crown argued the deaths happened about 3am on August 30, 2000.
Lundy is eligible for parole in 2022.
Costs:
* 2015 retrial:
Legal aid $1,775,850
Crown witness fees and travel costs $139,322
Lead prosecutor was paid $209,637
He also received costs of $1388
And for pre-trial appeal appearances and costs $10,243
Crown prosecutors' accommodation and travel $47,904
Crown Law costs $10,115
Police investigation $1,703,844
* 2013 Privy Council hearing:
Crown travel and accommodation costs $41,950
Crown fees to London solicitors $24,325
The Crown also had to pay Lundy's legal team $720,551 costs
* First trial
Legal aid for the trial and appeals was $163,359
First police investigation $1,340,665
Prosecution costs were not immediately available.
* Total: $6,189,153.
- Jimmy Ellingham of NZME News Service
