David Bain cleared of murders

David Bain. Pool photo

David Bain has been found not guilty of the 1994 murders of five of his family members.

Bain, 37, faced a retrial for the murders of his parents and three siblings at their Dunedin home on June 20, 1994, after the Privy Council in 2007 quashed his 1995 convictions for their deaths.

The jury today returned not guilty verdicts.

The Law Lords in 2007 had ruled Bain had been the victim of a "substantial miscarriage of justice".

By the time their decision saw him freed on bail in May 2007, Bain had served more than 12 years of a minimum 16-year jail term. He and his supporters had always maintained his innocence.

Justice Graham Panckhurst sent jurors out to consider their verdict on Thursday evening at the Christchurch High Court retrial.

The 12 jurors had heard from 184 witnesses over 54 days of evidence in what Bain's lawyers have described as "undoubtedly the most extraordinary case in New Zealand's history".

Bain's defence team argued his father, Robin, murdered his family before turning the gun on himself.

However, the Crown alleged he murdered his father Robin, mother Margaret, two sisters Arawa, 19, and Laniet, 18, and brother Stephen, 14, and used his paper run as an alibi before putting his bloodied clothes in the washing machine and calling police.

Expert evidence focused on whether Robin could physically have shot himself, the age of fingerprints on the rifle, length of bloodied footprints and the timing of David Bain's paper round and a message left on the family computer.

The defence argued the Robin Bain was depressed about his marriage and in an incestuous relationship with his prostitute daughter Laniet, while prosecutors painted Robin as a gentle man and Laniet's claims as unreliable.

Summing up for the defence on Wednesday, Michael Reed QC said Robin Bain had a bite mark, a bruise on his hand that was less than 12 hours old, and what one witness described as the appearance of blood under his fingernails.

But Mr Reed said there was very little blood on Bain, which showed he checked on his family members but did not shoot them.

He spoke of Robin Bain having a history of depression and being worried about his daughter Laniet - who was going to "blow the whistle" on an incestuous affair - and a marriage that was all but over.

"Who is the more likely person to be a homicidal maniac? Is it the nice friendly, jovial 22 year-old with a new girlfriend and dog, enjoying what he is doing ... Or is it this sad, sad father who is going downhill?"

Mr Reed said, "The tragedy for David is that David still loves his father. He's not the father that David knew all those years. He's a man that suddenly flipped."

Summing up on Tuesday, Crown prosecutor Kieran Raftery told the jury that they should focus on who killed Stephen Bain, as the same person killed Margaret, Arawa, Laniet and Robin Bain.

He said the blood found in Stephen Bain's room and the fact that he was strangled pointed to a violent struggle.

He said the defence had described Robin as 58 going on 78 and, therefore, Robin was not the man who fought with Stephen.

He showed the jury how he believed David and Stephen's hands had come into contact with the rifle during the struggle. Mr Raftery told the jury that small samples of Stephen's blood were found on Bain's clothing.

Mr Raftery also told the jury that Bain did not act like a brother when he heard Laniet making gurgling sounds after returning from his paper round, waiting 20 minutes before calling 111.