New witnesses to Bain family murders reveal they saw David Bain on the morning his family was shot

Two Dunedin locals say they saw David Bain doing his paper run on the morning his family was murdered in 1994. Photo / File

New evidence in the Bain family murder case reveals David Bain may not have been inside the family home at a time he has previously claimed.

Two Dunedin residents now say they saw a man they believe could only have been David Bain carrying out his paper run at about 7am on the morning his family was killed, Stuff reported today.

Following a retrial, Bain was acquitted in 2009 of the murders of his father Robin, mother Margaret, 50, and siblings Arawa, Laniet and son Stephen after serving 13 years of a 16-year sentence.

But 25 years on, locals Greg Wilson and Fiona McLellan have told Stuff they saw a tall man who looked too old to be doing a paper run delivering paper on Every Street at about 7am on 20 June 1994.

The then couple were walking to the bus stop when they spotted the man staggering along Highcliff Rd and onto Every St where his family home was.

The pair said they told police about the unusual sighting at the time - but police told the Herald they had no record of it.

Police had undertaken an "extensive search of available documentation" but had not been able to locate or identify any material relating to the pair's version of events, according to a police spokeswoman.

Their sighting could be significant as it raises uncertainty around whether David Bain was home when the family computer was turned on, Stuff reported.

The defence argues Robin Bain shot his family and turned the computer on before turning the gun on himself.

While the Crown argued Bain had time to turn it on once he finished his paper run and write: "Sorry you are the only one who deserved to stay".

Earlier witness accounts claimed Bain was standing outside the gate of his home at 65 Every St between 6.40am and 6.45am.

However the latest evidence puts him outside the house at 7am - just nine minutes before he made the call.

Bain has also struggled to recall, claiming to have gone into shock, about what happened in the 25 minutes from him arriving home and calling police at 7.09am.

Wilson and McLellan claim they both tried to contact the Bain defence team with their accounts after the 1996 trial, but never heard back. They were also never asked to give evidence at the first trial.