David Bain's prints on death rifle

Kim Jones (left) helped by a court staff member, explains where he found fingerprints on the rifle used in the killings. Photo / The Press

The rifle used in the shooting of the Bain family had David Bain's "recent" fingerprints on it and could not have been simply picked up for a look, an expert says.

The important prints must have come from fingers with blood on them and were placed there with considerable force, fingerprint officer Kim Jones told the David Bain murder trial.

Mr Jones also gave evidence to the High Court at Christchurch yesterday of David Bain's partial palm print being found in blood on the family washing machine.

The prosecution says Bain, 37, washed his bloodied clothing after murdering his parents and three siblings in their Dunedin home on the morning of June 20, 1994.

His defence team argues that Bain's father Robin, 58, shot dead the rest of the family before turning the rifle on himself, and David returned from his paper round to find the rifle beside Robin's body.

Robin Bain was described by friends and colleagues yesterday as a loving father and caring school principal, who was reluctant to hurt even insects because he felt that "everything has a right to live".

The defence has painted a very different picture of him, as a deeply depressed man who committed incest with his daughter Laniet and a hunter familiar with guns. Bain's lawyers also suggested that Robin arranged for a reliever to cover his duties at Taieri Beach School the week he died.

Mr Jones told the court yesterday of his analysis of the rifle and what he believed to be blood all over it.

Whether this was blood on the rifle is in dispute, but the defence says there could be animal blood and David Bain's prints from a past hunting trip.

Mr Jones said four fingerprints on the rifle's wooden stock matched the fingerprints taken from Bain.

These prints were applied with such pressure and were so defined that Mr Jones said he was in no doubt they were of "recent origin".

He believed the hand was slapped down on the rifle with some force, and could not have been picked up by someone who walked in a room and picked up the rifle to see what it was.

Mr Jones said he also found two fingerprints on the right side of the silencer attached to the rifle. Only one had sufficient detail for identification, and this matched David's brother Stephen, 14.

Darlene Thomson worked with Robin Bain at Taieri Beach School and said he was like a grandfather to the children. She recalled a spider that some of the children wanted to kill. Robin became upset about this and instead taught the pupils about the spider and set it free. "The lesson was everything has a right to live."

Dorothy Duthie was board of trustees chairwoman at the school, and recalled an incident where Robin Bain needed to dispose of a live possum in a trap. She tried to hand him her air rifle, but he kept his hands by his side and stepped back. "He certainly didn't want to do the shooting."