KEY POINTS:
Joe Karam has stopped counting the personal financial cost of his battle to free convicted murderer David Bain, but he estimates it is "likely to be millions".
A former All Black, Mr Karam first became interested in Bain in 1996 after reading a newspaper article about supporters trying
to raise money to get his case to the Privy Council.
"It struck me that they must have been genuinely convinced about what they were doing to go to such lengths, when this was just a person they had only known for a couple of years."
The Bain family had been in Papua New Guinea, only moving to Dunedin in 1990.
Mr Karam planned to check if the supporters were genuine, then send them a couple of hundred dollars for their kitty. "And one thing led to another after that."
Last reports in news media said Mr Karam had spent $750,000 on his quest to free Bain, who he believed was wrongfully convicted, but that figure no longer stands.
"I've probably been through the most productive earning years of a businessman's life, really - from early to mid 40s to mid to late 50s ... not getting any money. The real cost is obviously millions."
Mr Karam believes "without any shadow of doubt" that Bain is innocent but says this is not the point.
"The point is that the evidence that we now have is vastly different from the evidence that was put before the jury that found David guilty."
Mr Karam has been a vocal critic of the police investigation, alleging incompetence and resulting in the police suing him, unsuccessfully, for defamation.
Campaigning for Bain has taken up nearly all of his life since he became involved, but he only ever contemplated giving up when he was being sued.
Having written three books on Bain's case, he joked his role on Bain's legal team was as "information bureau".
"There have been a vast amount of hearings and inquiries and reports, all of which I've been involved in."
Mr Karam travels from Auckland to visit Bain most months.
Bain spends his days working in the administration office of Christchurch Prison's engineering workshop, as well as studying computer-aided design.
Bain was "a completely shattered individual" when Mr Karam first met him but time has been a good healer.
"To that extent, he isn't fraught with the total feeling of despair and destitution that he was when I met him.
"He has found a way to deal with prison life and he has applied himself to studying so that when he gets out of prison he'll be able to survive or make a life for himself."
Bain wanted to remain in New Zealand and make a career in computer-aided design, , Mr Karam said.
He was highly regarded by prison staff and had been a good influence on other prisoners.
"He's got a gentle nature but won't be pushed around. He's strong on principles."
Bain is eligible for parole in 2010, and if he is granted a retrial it could take a chunk of this time to be completed. But his fight is to clear his name.
"When he comes up for parole he will be asked how he has dealt with his offending, Mr Karam said.
"And he will say, 'There was none', and they'll probably say, 'Well, see you in five years' time'. But to him that would be preferable to making up some story."
Bain's extended family "have wiped him".
"They gave an ultimatum about 10 years ago that until he asked for God's forgiveness for having killed his family and admitted to everyone that that's what he had done they didn't want any more to do with him."
Mr Karam says Bain wrote back saying he couldn't because he hadn't killed anybody.
- NZPA
