Robin Bain's wounds 'consistent with suicide'

David Bain denies killing five members of his family. Photo / Pool

The fatal gunshot wound suffered by Robin Bain is consistent with suicide, a leading pathologist from Britain has told the Bain murder trial.

Home Office forensic pathologist Dr Robert Chapman, whose thousands of autopsies have included Princess Diana and her boyfriend Dodi Fayed, gave evidence in the High Court at Christchurch yesterday in the defence of Robin Bain's son, David Bain.

Dr Chapman told the court his finding was that the gunshot wound to the left temple of Robin, 58, came from a rifle up against the temple, or very close to it. This resulted in a "contact or near contact" wound. This finding lines up with that of pathologist Alexander Dempster, who did the only autopsies on the five members of the Bain family after their deaths on June 20, 1994.

But other pathology experts for the prosecution have given opinions that the wound Robin suffered was fired from the rifle at a distance, and therefore suicide is unlikely or impossible.

David Bain, 37, is on trial for the murder of his parents and three siblings in their Dunedin home. His defence team say Robin shot dead the family before turning the rifle on himself.

Dr Chapman was provided with photographs, slides and written reports from the autopsies done by Dr Dempster and was asked to give his opinion.

While the photographs provided were generally of poor quality, Dr Chapman said he was able to determine features of Robin's wound, such as splitting and sooting, that indicated that the rifle was in close proximity.

Asked by Bain's lawyer, Michael Reed QC, about his opinion on whether it was likely to be suicide or not, Dr Chapman said: "I would say that that wound, based on the wound appearances and the pathology aspects ... is consistent with a self-inflicted injury".

Prosecutor Kieran Raftery put it to Dr Chapman that he could not say if it was suicide or not without knowing all of the other evidence in the trial over the last three months.

Dr Chapman: "No, I think the determination of whether it is suicide or not is ... for the court."

Dr Chapman also looked at wounds suffered by Bain's sister, Laniet, 18, who was shot in the cheek, above the ear, and in the top of the head.

Bain has told police he arrived home from his paper round after the shootings and heard Laniet gurgle. But the prosecution say to hear Laniet gurgle, Bain must have fired the shots.

Dr Chapman said it was possible Laniet survived for a matter of minutes after the three shots, and continuing respiration with blood in her airways created a gurgling or snoring noise.