Laniet Bain couldn't have gurgled after bullets to head: Expert

David Bain is accused of murdering five members of his family in 1994. Photo / Pool

An expert in gunshot deaths says David Bain's sister Laniet could not have survived either of two gunshots to the head to be heard gurgling.

Forensic pathology professor James Ferris, a veteran of hundreds of fatal gunshot examinations, was asked to give his views into the deaths of five members of Bain's family on June 20, 1994.

David Bain, 37, is on trial is in the High Court in Christchurch for shooting dead his parents and three siblings. His lawyers say it was his father Robin who shot the family before turning the .22 rifle on himself.

The prosecution says Bain would have to be the killer to hear Laniet gurgle, but the defence are arguing it was possible she survived beyond the three shots.

The court has heard argument over the sequence of shots suffered by Laniet Bain, 18, and a statement from David Bain that he heard his sister gurgling when he got home from his paper run on the day of the killings.

Pathologist Ken Thomson has already stated that Laniet likely sat up in her bed after being shot in the cheek, and was then shot above the left ear and on the top of the head with the rifle pressed against her scalp.

Dr Ferris said the bullet wound to Laniet's left cheek would not have caused brain damage or been immediately fatal. Blood from Laniet's right hand indicated it had come into contact with the cheek wound or she tried to grasp something, but Dr Ferris said he could not say if this was voluntary movement.

Smearing of blood on her pillow also suggested movement of her upper body.

From closer examination of Laniet's lungs, Dr Ferris said Laniet survived long enough to inhale blood into her lungs. The unknown was whether she remained conscious or not.

Dr Ferris said attempts to inhale air through an airway containing blood could produce a gurgling noise, and was probably the only reasonable explanation for it.

The two wounds Laniet later suffered to the head would both have resulted in "virtual complete destruction of the central part of the brain responsible for breathing and keeping one alive".

After these wounds, any spontaneous breathing would be impossible, and respiration would cease immediately.
The defence earlier told the court that experts would say Robin Bain committed suicide and had hand injuries that included bite marks.

One expert would give evidence of a bite mark from a teenage boy on Robin's hand that was direct to the skin or through a thin material such as gloves. Gloves were found in the bedroom of David Bain's brother Stephen, 14, where a violent struggle took place before he was shot dead.

Another expert would say that the evidence showed Robin shot himself with the .22 rifle found next to his body, and injuries to his hands provided evidence of "a recent fist attack".

This morning a pathologist was told his theories on the shootings of the Bain family will be disputed by overseas experts, and some of his views are "nonsense".

Pathologist Ken Thomson has given evidence about bullet wounds suffered by members of Bain's family.

Dr Thomson siad Robin Bain, 58, died from a bullet wound to the temple suffered at a range of up to 20cm, despite having said in the past it was a "near contact wound" from a bullet fired two to three centimetres away. David Bain's defence team say Robin shot himself with the rifle pressed up against his head in a "close contact wound".

Another pathologist, Alexander Dempster, has given evidence that the rifle was virtually against Robin's head in an "angled near contact wound", leaving soot around the wound.

Dr Thomson today described the material around Robin's wound as "bullet wipe" to back his theory.

Mr Reed put to Dr Thomson that his description of "bullet wipe" on test firing samples shown to the court was "verging on being naughty".

Mr Reed: "Doctor, I'm sorry, but that's nonsense on your part.

"You're just pushing the science too far to protect the situation aren't you?"

Dr Thomson: "I don't believe so".

Dr Thomson said Dr Dempster was a competent pathologist, but "I think anybody can make an error". He agreed he tried unsuccessfully to persuade Dr Dempster that "powder abrasions" on Robin's skin showed the bullet was fired from a distance.

He agreed with Mr Reed he could not be certain about the size of the bullet wound to Robin Bain's temple from a photograph, without having seen it in person as Dr Dempster had.

"I believe the photographs are good enough to make a comment."

Dr Thomson has also given an opinion that David Bain's sister Laniet, 18, was first shot in the left cheek, before sitting up in her bed, and then shot above the left ear and on the top of the head with the rifle against her scalp.

He said Laniet could have inhaled blood and gurgled after being shot in the cheek, before the two shots to Laniet's head which would have resulted in rapid death.

Mr Reed said ballistics experts would say that the first shot would have been to the top of Laniet's head because of "surrounding circumstances", such as bullet fragments found in Laniet's bedroom.

Asked about white fibres found on the bullet after Laniet was shot in the head, Dr Thomson said he discounted the theory of a bullet passing through an intermediate object such as a pillow. He believed this particular bullet was fired with the rifle pressed hard against Laniet's scalp.

"How the fabric got in the way, I don't know."

Mr Reed said any material the bullet could have passed through would have been lost in a fire in the Bain house before the white fibres were discovered.

Dr Thomson's theory on the shooting of Laniet had been put to a ballistics expert in the United Kingdom, and this expert would give evidence that his theory was wrong.

Mr Reed: "You're not a ballistics expert are you?"

Dr Thomson: "No, but I'm an expert on wounds."

Bullet fragments were found on a chair in Laniet's room, which Mr Reed said a ballistics expert found was the bullet breaking up before it hit Laniet.

Asked if this could explain the unusually large wound in Laniet's head, Dr Thomson said it was a "remarkably symmetrical wound for a bullet fragment".