David Bain's retrial for the murder of five of his family in Dunedin in 1994 began in Christchurch on Friday. Hit refresh throughout the day for the latest updates. Or you can follow us on Twitter
5:02pm Reece Halkett Coleman Gardner, a planner, prepared a plan of 65 Every St.
Mr Gardner drew up a plan that included transparent overlays. The first was a floor plan of the house, the second included the bodies of the Bain family, while the third, fourth and fifth showed blood,
footprints, live rounds and lead fragments from bullets respectively.
Under cross-examination, Helen Cull, QC, asked why a writing desk was not included in the plans.
Mr Gardner said the survey is "very accurate but it may not be complete".
He said no one had asked him to leave out any furniture and anything that was missed out was his mistake.
Mr Gardner also conceded that he had consulted with police when he made the plans about the position of the bodies.
When questioned by Judge Panckhurst, Mr Gardner said it appears the plan is not complete. He said the house also included a toilet and a cupboard, not on the plans.
He had said earlier that his field notes are complete and the plans are only representative.
The Ministry of Justice server has gone down and court has been adjourned for the day.
Mr Gardner will finish giving evidence tomorrow.
3:55pm New witness Kenneth David Chilton was also a police photographer and has since retired.
Mr Chilton took several rolls of film over the two or three days after the murder.
He said he took photographs of the washing machine.
The Crown had earlier said that they will prove that David Bain used the washing machine to try and destroy evidence, following the alleged murders.
Under cross examination, Mr Chilton said he could not be sure, without seeing the negatives and his notebooks, which photographs he took.
He told David Bain's lawyer Helen Cull, QC, that he had viewed the photographs recently at the police station but had not been asked to compare his negatives with the photographs and identify which ones are his.
3:11pm Ian William McRobie's evidence has also been read to the jury.
Mr McRobie has passed away since the first trial. He was involved in enlarging images.
The evidence was read out because a Crown witness was not immediately available.
3:07pm Evidence from an Otago Daily Times photographer has been read to the jury
Gerard Desmond O'Brien still works for the paper and had his evidence read to the jury by the judge.
Mr O'Brien flew over the Bain household in a helicopter and took photographs which were then obtained by the police.
2:52pm A second police photographer has been called as a Crown witness this afternoon.
Daniel Ralph Batchelor took photographs of David Bain at the Dunedin police station.
He told the court that he photographed Bain's head, shoulders and a close-up of Bain's forehead where he had a graze.
Mr Batchelor said he also took photographs of Bain's right leg, and a close up of an abrasion.
On Friday, Crown prosecutor Robin Bates indicated that the Crown would argue that Bain had injuries consistent with a struggle. The Crown argues that a struggle took place in Stephen Bain's bedroom, shortly before Stephen Bain was murdered.
2:41pm The jury at the Christchurch High Court has seen excerpts from a video taken by police on June 20.
The excerpt showed the body of Robin Bain.
While being re-examined by Crown prosecutor Robin Bates, former police photographer Trevor Edward Gardener said the footage was taken before the still photographs.
Earlier, Mr Gardener confirmed to defence counsel Helen Cull, QC, that items had been moved in some of the scenes.
1:00pm The Crown prosecutor Robin Bates has begun re-examining witness Trevor Gardener who formerly was a police photographer.
Mr Bates has proposed to show a police video of the Bain family home, taken on June 20 by police photographers.
However, it is not clear if the video will be allowed to be recorded by the media.
The High Court has now broken for lunch until 2.15pm.
12:36pm Ms Cull has asked that given the importance the Crown case is putting on evidence at the scene, it is not possible to know the sequence that the images were taken.
The witness confirmed that without notes from a police notebook, it would not be possible to know when the pictures were taken.
12:18pm Defence counsel Helen Cull has pointed out further examples of items in the Bain household that were moved between the times that various police photographs were taken.
The revelations were made while Ms Cull cross-examined former police photographer Trevor Gardener who took the first photographs inside the house at Every St on June 20.
Ms Cull compared two photographs from inside David Bain's bedroom.
The witness confirmed that the two photographs, when viewed together, shows that the trigger lock for the .22 rifle was moved, a shoe lace was moved, a packet of live rounds was turned on its side and there were a different number of bullets.
Ms Cull also asked about two other photographs of clothing.
"Things have moved, haven't they?" She asked.
"Yes, they have," he answered the witness.
He confirmed that items of clothing and a pillow had been moved in another pair of images.
"That's not unusual for a crime scene," he said.
11:35am Defence counsel Helen Cull, QC, has begun her cross examination of a police photographer.
Trevor Edward Gardener was the first photographer inside the Bain family house and the only photographer to take pictures of the scene while the bodies of the five Bain family members were still in the house.
He has since left the police force and has no notebooks from the work that he carried out 15 years ago.
"I left the police approximately one year after the episode, obviously it's been over 14 years and it's been misplaced or whatever," he said.
He confirmed that he was the first photographer through the Bain family house, arriving at about 10am and entering the house somewhere between "late morning or early afternoon".
Ms Cull asked why the date and time mechanism on the police video camera was not switched on.
"Probably a decision I made by myself. I did not deem it necessary at the time to switch it on," Gardener said.
She also asked about a series of photographs taken in the Bain family laundry which showed that a washing machine lid had been moved from the machine, to the sink and then on to a near-by cabinet.
Ms Cull asked if the man took the pictures and if he could say in what order. He could not be sure who took them or in what sequence.
She asked then if the photographs were then not "true, accurate, or in chronological sequence".
Gardener said without access to the negatives, he could not be sure of the chronological sequence but "it is certainly true and accurate of what the officer wanted at the time".
The court has adjourned for a morning tea break, after which the cross examination will continue.
11:03am Crown prosecutor Robin Bates has begun calling the first witnesses in the re-trial of David Bain.
The jury have also been handed out a booklet.
Mr Bates warned that there were some "relatively unpleasant scenes in the booklet."
Former police photographer Trevor Gardener has been sworn in to give evidence.
The witness took video and still images of the Bain family home on Every St in Dunedin in 1994.
10:54am Justice Panckhurst has apologised for the hold-up to this morning's proceedings.
He said there was a problem with the Ministry of Justice computer server which enables court transcripts to be sent electronically.
10:35am Despite being scheduled to get under way at 10am, proceedings have not yet started. It is unclear what is causing the delay.
10:10am A list of Crown witnesses has been released to the media and includes 144 names.
The names include members of the extended Bain family, police and ambulance staff, as well as members of the Anderson Bay community in Dunedin.
The names could be later suppressed by Justice Graham Panckhurst and so cannot be released.
This morning's proceedings are yet to get under way.
9:46am David Bain has arrived at the High Court in Christchurch where it is anticipated that the Crown will begin calling some 150 witnesses.
He was flanked by his lawyer Michael Reed, QC and longtime supporter Joe Karam.
This morning's proceedings are set to get underway at 10am.
8:30am The first of approximately 150 Crown witnesses will give evidence in the retrial of David Bain in Christchurch today.
Bain is being retried for the murders of five family members in Dunedin in 1994.
On Friday both the Crown and Defence outlined their cases, with the Crown saying evidence will show that it could only have been David Bain who shot dead his family.
Bain's lawyer told the court he will call witnesses to show that Bain's father Robin killed the family and then himself, as the fact he was having an incestuous relationship with one of his daughters was about to be revealed.
The Crown case is expected to take several weeks, with around 50 police witnesses alone.
- NZ HERALD STAFF/AGENCIES
