Bain trial: Mother feared father would kill family, court told

David Bain is on trial for the murders of his parents and three siblings. Photo / Pool

Margaret Bain feared her husband might get a gun and kill her family, the High Court has been told.

The court heard today Margaret made the comment to a friend prior to the death of her and four members of the Bain family.

Bain's lawyer, Michael Reed QC, today put it to Bain's aunt, Jan Clark, that the witness would say that Margaret told her she was worried Robin might get a gun and kill the whole family due to his depression.

Asked if she ever heard anything like this, Mrs Clark said she had not. She said she did not know the friend of Margaret's that Mr Reed had mentioned.

The defence say Robin, separated from Margaret and sleeping in a caravan at the rear of the family home, was clinically depressed prior to the killings.

Mrs Clark said she never noticed any signs of this, and Robin seemed as he always was leading up to the deaths.

Earlier today the court heard from Mrs Clark that David Bain went into an altered state where he repeatedly spoke about "everyone dying", and "black hands".

She told the High Court at Christchurch today how Bain's voice and body language changed in a conversation that followed the death of his parents and three siblings.

David Bain, 37, is on trial for murdering his parents and three siblings in their Dunedin home on the morning of June 20, 1994. His defence team say his father Robin shot dead the family and then turned the rifle on himself.

Mrs Clark, sister to Margaret Bain, said when Bain was staying at her home following the deaths, he insisted on reading a newspaper to see what it was saying about him.

Bain got tears in his eyes and he went to an upstairs bedroom. Mrs Clark said she went up and spoke with him.

She said Bain told her that he had been lied to, and his family weren't asleep when they were killed.

Bain closed his eyes and his whole body seemed to tense up, Mrs Clark said.

She could feel spit on her face as Bain repeatedly spoke in a slow, deliberate way, almost as if the words were being dragged out of him.

He spoke repeatedly about dying and black hands. He told her it was just like Schindler's List, a movie he had recently seen, with everyone dying all around.

Mrs Clark said she asked Bain if he saw his family die, but he told her he had not, and he only saw his mother and father when they were already dead.

Bain's uncle also described to the court how Bain seemed to go into a trance after reading a newspaper article about the death of his family.

Robert Clark, whose wife Jan was Margaret Bain's sister, told the High Court that Bain came to stay at his home after the death of his five family members.

Mr Clark said he spoke with Bain on numerous occasions in the days following the killings.

On June 22, he said David asked for a copy of the Otago Daily Times and he gave it to him. Mr Clark said he been told earlier by police not to expose David to the media.

When reading the paper, Bain said: "Rubbish".

He read on further, and Mr Clark said Bain then got upset. Mr Clark said he took him up to his bedroom to talk about it.

Bain told him that he had been lied to, that the family were out of their beds. Bain then asked what injuries his family had suffered, and Mr Clark said he told him.

David then clenched his fists and appeared to go into some sort of trance for about a minute.

Mr Clark said David then said: "Black hands, black hands coming to take them away", or words to that effect.

Mr Clark said when he spoke with Bain about going to identify the bodies of the family, Bain asked him: "Do you want me to go with you?"

He recalled a detective visiting Bain and pointing out the three scenarios that either he, Robin, or someone outside the family must be responsible for the killings.

Bain responded with the words: "I will never forgive him for what he has done".

He referred to, "if he had done it", and Mr Clark said he took that to be Bain talking about his father.

At the police station, David asked to see a lawyer, and Mr Clark said he saw David was upset.

He asked him what was wrong and David said he had been told by the police that his sister was a prostitute. Bain was upset because he said police reckoned he knew about this.

Mr Clark recalled Bain making the comment to him that if he had run his paper round faster, he could have got home and saved his family.

At one stage while driving Bain to the police station for an interview, Mr Clark said he distinctly remembered Bain saying he was glad to get it sorted out so he could move on with his life.

Mr Clark described Robin as frail, but a very nice gentleman, who never had a bad word to say about anyone. Margaret always had a wonderful smile, and was very direct, and "you knew where you stood with her".

Margaret always spoke very highly of David.

Mr Clark said he had once offered David a job as a forecourt attendant, but David turned it down.

"His reasoning was that he still had his paper round, but he also wanted to work around the house helping his mother."

Mr Clark said Bain did not want to be a pall bearer at the family funeral, but would walk behind the procession. Bain was asked to support his frail grandmother, but said he wanted to walk alone.

Asked by defence lawyer, Michael Reed, QC if Bain was fond of his father, Mr Clark said: "From what could be observed, yes". He agreed Bain was also very close to his mother.

Bain parents gave children 'unconditional support'

Jan Clark said Margaret was the absolute epitome of what an older sister should be.

She said both Robin and Margaret gave unconditional support and love to their children.

But Mrs Clark recalled Margaret saying in 1991 that Bain had not done well at his exams, and that she was disappointed. Margaret said they could not afford to support him in another year of university and he would not be returning to study.

Mrs Clark said she also recalled an occasion where Margaret told her she had had to talk to Bain about the way he was treating his brother and sisters.

"She said that it was inappropriate. That it wasn't his place to tell them what they could or could not do. That they had a father, and it was his place, not David's."

Mrs Clark said she spoke to Bain about this and he endorsed his mother's comment.

"He said that he felt he had been taking on too much responsibility."

It was very unusual for Margaret to make such a comment about one of her children, Mrs Clark said.

Mrs Clark said she last spoke to Margaret on June 17. Margaret was excited because her plans for a new family house had been approved "in principle".

The Bain family had returned to Dunedin from Papua New Guinea in 1988 and found their house in a state of disrepair, and planned to build a new house.

Not all DNA on rifle from family, court told

Earlier today, the court heard that some DNA found on the rifle used in the killing of the Bain family did not match any of the family members.

A scientist told the court that DNA belonging to Stephen Bain, 14, was found on the rifle, but in some cases was only a partial profile or mixed with another unidentified person.

In 2003, ESR (Environmental Science and Research)forensic scientist Susan Vintiner analysed samples from the rifle used in the killings, and curtains, towels and bathmats in the Bain house. The purpose was to see if she could match DNA off these items to members of the Bain family.

Dr Vintiner said some samples from the rifle were a partial match to Stephen, but in other cases were a mixed result with DNA from an unidentified person.

A sample taken from a green curtain in the lounge where Robin's body was found, could have come from Robin, Dr Vintiner said.

A towel in the laundry/bathroom area of the Bain house gave a partial result of Robin's DNA.

In 1997, dry matter that appeared to be skin, found in Stephen's bedroom was examined. This matter could have come from Stephen, but not from David or Robin.

The court has heard that Stephen was involved in a violent struggle with his killer in his bedroom.

In some samples, no human DNA was present or too little was present for profiling, Dr Vintiner said.

The court heard last week from another ESR scientist that Stephen Bain's DNA was found on David's clothing, the rifle used in the killings and curtains where the prosecution say David shot his father.