David Bain police challenged about bone shards

Conflicting versions have emerged from police over where evidence was found in the home of David Bain after five of his family were shot dead.

Kevin Anderson, a detective who investigated the deaths in 1994, told the High Court at Christchurch yesterday that bone fragments were found on a .22 rifle lying beside the body of Bain's father, Robin, in a lounge of the family home.

Yet a police exhibit list compiled by another detective listed the fragments as coming from below the computer in the alcove adjoining the lounge.

This and the actions of various police witnesses were challenged on the 12th day of the retrial of David Bain, now 36, for murdering his parents and three siblings on June 20, 1994.

The defence says it was Robin who killed his family before turning the .22 rifle on himself.

The court also heard yesterday that 21 spent .22 ammunition shells were found in the caravan where Robin was sleeping while estranged from his wife, Margaret.

Defence lawyer, Helen Cull, QC, questioned Mr Anderson about the different locations given for the bone fragments, and he maintained they came from the rifle, not from below the computer.

Ms Cull: "I just want you to be clear about these fragments."

Mr Anderson: "I'm very clear about it."

Asked if the location listed by exhibits officer Detective Constable Trevor Thomson must be wrong, Mr Anderson said it was. "I'm saying to you that the only bone fragments located were located from the rifle. That's it."

Mr Anderson was also questioned by Ms Cull yesterday about house plans in the bedroom of David's sister, Laniet, when he was noting items in the room. Asked if he recorded anything about the plans before they were later destroyed by fire, Mr Anderson said he had not. Ms Cull asked him specifically if the plans had any room for Robin.

The trial has previously heard from neighbours of the Bains that some family members had been looking forward to a new home being built for them.

Mr Anderson said of the plans: "If they had no apparent involvement in what happened in that room, there would be no immediate necessity to secure those items."

Stephen Murray, another detective who investigated the Bain killings, examined the caravan in which Robin slept, and found a live .22 bullet under a book and a spent cartridge shell on a bunk bed. A further 20 spent .22 shells were found on a bench with a cassette on top of them.

"I considered they had been there for some time due to where they were lying and because of the dust and the dirt," Mr Murray said.

A pair of jeans and a pair of trousers with bloodstains were taken from the caravan.

Mr Murray was questioned by defence lawyer Paul Morten about a bloodied duvet on Laniet's bed that at one stage was "scrunched up" on the floor.

Asked if this was "best practice", Mr Murray said it was not.

Detective Mark Lodge told the court of a partial bloody handprint found on the top of the washing machine in the laundry of the Bain house, and blood on a towel and container on the shelf.

The prosecution is arguing that Bain washed his bloodied clothing in the washing machine after shooting his family. The case continues.