Bain trial latest updates: 'Most extraordinary case at an end'

Only a psychopath could have committed the Bain murders, says defence counsel Michael Reed QC (above). Pool photos

4.07pm: A 15-year journey in what is "undoubtedly the most extraordinary case in New Zealand's history" is now at an end, Bain's lawyers have said.

Michael Reed, QC, has told the jury that they have an "awesome responsibility" when they begin deliberating.

"You decide whether David goes home after tomorrow, home means penniless but free," Mr Reed said.

He said the alternative is to send him back to prison where he has been "rotting" for 15 years.

"He is 37 years of age, a really nice guy with a lovely smile and a nice way about him. He's not a murderer," Mr Reed said

He said the Crown had not proven the case beyond reasonable doubt.

"Have they proved that it was definitely not suicide? They ask you to chose between experts," Mr Reed said.

He said that tomorrow the jury will hear from the judge and his summing up.

"The facts of this case are not for him, they are for you, ladies and gentleman, twelve of you," Mr Reed said.

Mr Reed thanked the jury for their attention during the three months of evidence and asked them to return not guilty verdicts on all five counts of murder.

Court has adjourned for the day. Tomorrow the judge will begin summing up before the jury deliberates.

3.42pm: David Bain's palm print on the washing machine can be explained because he put on a load of washing, on the morning that five of his family members were found dead in their home, his lawyers say.

Michael Reed, QC, said the palm print may not have been made in blood.

But even if it was made in blood, Bain could have picked that up from the green jersey that was in the wash, Mr Reed said.

"Why would David go down there to sort whites from colours?" Mr Reed asked.

"If the green jersey was covered in blood, you would expect David to get a bit of blood on his hand," Mr Reed said.

However, who was wearing that green jersey is contested by both sides.

"If there's a bit of blood, who cares? It's come from the green jersey. That's all a nonsense," Mr Reed said, referring to the importance placed on the palm print by the Crown.

Mr Reed also questioned why Bain would not also wash the bloodied gloves found in Stephen's room, had he been the murderer

3.31pm: There is nothing strange about David Bain's fingerprints being found on his own rifle, lawyers for Bain say.

Michael Reed, QC, said: "It's David's gun, you would expect to find his fingerprints on it".

But Mr Reed said where the defence differ from the prosecution is that they say there is no blood underneath the fingerprints.

Yesterday, Crown prosecutor Kieran Raftery said there was a substance with a red pigment found under the fingerprints.

Mr Reed said there is a difference in opinion about where a sample of the blood found on the gun was taken from.

He said the defence maintain that the blood was taken some distance from the fingerprints but the exact position is not known.

3.12pm: David Bain could have heard his sister, Laniet, gurgle without being the murderer, his lawyers say.

Michael Reed, QC, has said the pathologists and scientists disagree which bullet came first, one through her cheek and two in the head.

The Crown says it was likely to be the bullet that went through her cheek because blood was found in her lungs.

Mr Reed said the evidence over which shot came first is contradictory and some pathologists have described cases where dead people make gurgling noises.

"The cheek shot is shaky and dangerous on all sorts of grounds," Mr Reed said.

2.42pm: Defence lawyers have repeated accusations that a lens from a pair of glasses that Bain may have worn was planted by a police officer.

Michael Reed, QC, has repeated the accusations during his summing up
at the High Court in Christchurch.

The lens was found in Stephen Bain's bedroom where both sides say a
fight took place between the murderer and Stephen Bain.

Mr Reed said the lens was found by a former police officer, Milton
Weir, who admitted to painting a sign on the Bain house: "Hang David Bain".

Weir has denied planting the lens.

He said Mr Weir also cited issues of mistrust arising from his involvement in the Bain investigation as a reason for leaving the police.

Mr Reed read from the notes submitted when Mr Weir left the police.

"Detective Sergeant Weir feels he continues to be viewed with suspicion by superiors," Mr Reed read from the notes.

Mr Reed said the defence do not accept that the lens was found under an ice skate on the morning that five Bain family members were found dead in their home.

The damaged frames were found in the bedroom of David Bain.

2.18pm: David Bain has to be proven guilty beyond reasonable doubt but the Crown have come "nowhere near doing it", lawyers for Bain say.

Michael Reed, QC, said a number of factors, including the time of
deaths, forensic samples being destroyed and police photographs being
out of order, have made the case difficult for the defence.

"There is no onus on David to prove that he didn't do it. Where there
is a danger, and it has occurred before, is everyone likes to play
detective," Mr Reed said.

He said he liked to "play detective" but the Crown must prove David
did murder his family beyond reasonable doubt.

"The Crown has got nowhere near doing it and cannot discount suicide
and cannot discount Robin on any basis," Mr Reed said.

12.55pm: The case against David Bain is "a mess", defence lawyers say.

"You name it, it's a mess," Bain's lawyer Michael Reed, QC, told the
jury in his summing up.

Mr Reed appealed to the jury, describing their decision when it comes
to deciding on a verdict, as one of the most important they are likely
to ever make.

"It's in your hands," Mr Reed said.

"What a decision you've got to make," he said.

Mr Reed said experts from both the Crown and defence witness lists
have given evidence to say Robin Bain's head wound was a contact wound
and therefore he committed suicide.

He reminded the jury that Mr Raftery had told them yesterday that "all
12 of you could come to different conclusions" when considering the
forensic evidence.

"I thought you were meant to be unanimous. Perhaps I am naive," Mr Reed said.

Court has adjourned for lunch.

12.20pm: Robin Bain "cleaned himself up to meet his maker" before shooting himself, lawyers for David Bain say.

Bain's lawyer Michael Reed, QC, has told the jury that Robin murdered his family before changing his clothes and committing suicide.

Mr Reed said Robin was "mentally depressed and irrational".

Yesterday, Crown prosecutor Kieran Raftery said Robin would have to
have gone back to the caravan after murdering his family, changed his
clothes and put them in the laundry before killing himself.

Mr Raftery said no blood positively identified as belonging to
someone else was found on the clothing that Robin was wearing
when he died. "Why on earth?" Mr Raftery asked.

But today, Mr Reed said: "You cannot subscribe a rational act to what
Robin did."

He said mentally deranged people do "odd things".

"We don't know what was in his mind, that deranged mind, we have no
idea," Mr Reed said.

12.12pm: The bloody footprints found in the Bain family home belong to Robin Bain, and the case against David Bain therefore "collapses", lawyers for Bain say.

Michael Reed, QC, told the jury that the 280mm-long bloody print found
by police using a chemical reaction cannot have been made by David
Bain who has a 300mm long foot.

Robin, however, has a 270mm-long foot and some witnesses have
said the print is more likely to have belonged to Robin.

This has been disputed by Crown prosecutor Kieran Raftery.

"We see Mr Raftery moving away from that so the Crown moves away from its own expert," Mr Reed said.

He said he asked the detective in charge of the scene in 1994, Milton
Weir, would the bloody footprint belong to the killer?

Mr Reed said Mr Weir replied: "That would be fair to say, yes".

"The case against David collapses," he said.

11.58am: Robin Bain was having sex with his daughter, Laniet, lawyers for David Bain have said.

Michael Reed, QC, has outlined evidence from defence witnesses who
have earlier told the court that Laniet had said she was having sex
with her father.

Mr Reed said there was also evidence given that Arawa may have been
involved in prostitution and told people she had "family secrets".

"We don't know what really is the truth about what was happening
between Laniet and her father. It is obvious something was going on,"
Mr Reed said.

He said Laniet was telling people that she was being sexually molested
by her father and she was going to "blow the whistle".

"You've only got to make the allegation about sexual misconduct and a
life is ruined," Mr Reed said.

He said there was a "great risk" to Robin and Laniet's
allegations could have made Robin "flip".

Mr Reed said in contrast, Bain was described as a polite young
man with potential as an opera singer and a man who loved his family.

11.52am: David Bain is penniless with money from the properties owned by the Bain family going to the "aunts and uncles", the defence says.

Bain's lawyer Michael Reed, QC, has set the scene for the jury about
family life in the Bain household.

"We know the marriage was disintegrating, we know the matrimonial bed
was not in use. We know for the last four to six weeks Robin had lived
in the Commer van, we know where that was parked, we know the
condition of that van," Mr Reed said.

He said his wife Margaret had plans to build a new house in which Robin would not be included.

11.21am: Robin Bain had depression as far back as the late 1970s, a jury has heard.

David Bain's lawyer Michael Reed, QC, has said evidence has been given
that shows Robin Bain to have been "gaunt, ill, wasted, one described
him as... having some form of terminal illness."

Mr Reed said Robin has also been described as "disheveled, haggard" as
well as appearing "grey and depressed".

He said Robin applied for stress leave from his job as principal of
Taieri Beach School in April 1994 where he was principal.

Mr Reed said it was also Robin who was responsible for publishing
disturbing stories by his students.

11.11am: Robin Bain is the killer, not the "friendly jovial 22 year-old with a new girlfriend and a dog", lawyers for David Bain have said.

Michael Reed, QC, asked the jury: "Who is the more likely person to be
a homicidal maniac?

"Is it the nice, friendly, jovial, 22 year-old with a new girlfriend
and dog who cut a music CD on Friday?

"Or is it the sad father going downhill on the slide?"

He said that if the Crown is right then David would have to have turned
into a "homicidal maniac" somewhere around midnight and then switch
back the next day.

10.59am: Robin Bain "flipped" and "clearly had a mental disorder", lawyers for David Bain have said.

Michael Reed, QC, said Bain in contrast was "happy and jovial"
on the day before the murders while he was at the rehearsal for the
play, Oedipus Rex.

"He is nice, friendly, incredibly polite, a great sense of humour, he
is a kind man. You've heard all that from friends," Mr Reed said.

Mr Reed also said that despite the Crown prosecutors being made up of
a team of top lawyers from around the country, they absurdly drew
parallels between the Bain family murders and the play Oedipus Rex.

Mr Reed said the court has been told that the play is really the first
example of road rage and had no relevance to the case.

10.50am: Robin Bain had teeth marks on his hand and a bruise that was less than 12 hours old, Bain's lawyers have said.

In his summing up for the defence, Michael Reed, QC, has repeated evidence from a forensic scientist that showed a bruise on Robin Bain's hand was less than 12-hours old.

"It didn't happen after he was having fish and chips and doing
nothing," Mr Reed said, referring to the night before the murders.

He told the jury that they can draw an inference from the bruise to
suggest that Robin was involved in the murders.

"It is very likely that Robin was involved in the fight with Stephen,"
Mr Reed said.

He said the police have destroyed much of the forensic samples before
they could be tested with modern science.

"That bad luck should not be used on this nice guy," Mr Reed said.

10.40am: Robin Bain had blood on his hands which, if tested, could have prevented a re-trial, defence lawyers for David Bain say.

Michael Reed, QC, has told the jury that there is "extensive blood on
Robin's hands".

Mr Reed said there was a splash of blood on the second finger of
Robin's right hand, on the index finger of his left hand and a smear
on his little finger.

He said only one blood sample was tested and then destroyed by police
before the Privy Council appeal.

"All of the other blood samples went to the grave with Robin Bain," Mr
Reed said.

He said the samples could have helped Bain.

"If one of those samples on Robin turns out to be any of the children,
particularly Stephen, then the Crown has no explanation of how the
blood of Stephen got onto Robin," Mr Reed said.

He said scientists have given evidence to say that if the samples of
blood from Robin's hands had been kept, the results could have "got
David out of the case with no trial, no stress, no nothing".

10.31am: There was very little blood on David Bain, which shows he did check on his family members but did not shoot them, say defence
lawyers.

Michael Reed, QC, has told the jury that there was no blood on Bain's
glasses and very little on his white t-shirt, especially if he was
wearing a v-neck jersey.

Mr Reed also said there was no blood on the topside of Bain's socks or
inside his running shoes and only a smear on his black running shorts.

He said the blood found on Bain's clothes is consistent
with Bain crouching down and checking on his young brother Stephen
Bain.

"Wouldn't it be very suspicious if David had no blood on him at all?"
Mr Reed asked the jury.

10.22am: The David Bain retrial can be summed up as the "don't know case", say defence lawyers for David Bain.

Bain's lawyer Michael Reed, QC, has said the Crown prosecutor Kieran
Raftery left the jury with a series of unanswered questions.

"There's a long list of matters that Mr Raftery has said we don't
know," he said.

Mr Reed has said the prosecution avoided the notion of suicide
yesterday but he will take the jury through forensic evidence that
supports the defence's argument that Robin Bain killed his family
before committing suicide.

He said Mr Raftery told the jury yesterday that there is "something in
it for everyone" when it comes to forensic evidence.

"What an extraordinary phrase to use. What is it, a quiz game?"

He said Mr Raftery's phrase shows that the case cannot be proven
against Bain beyond reasonable doubt.

Mr Reed told the jury that if they are left in the position of not
being able to decide whether it was Robin or David at the end of the
day, then the jury must acquit David.

10.11am: The defence team has thanked the jurors for their service during the three month retrial of David Bain.

Bain's lawyer Michael Reed, QC, has thanked the jury for their public
service and said he was aware of the "pittance" they were paid.

"We started in the summer and it is now freezing," Mr Reed said.

He said it has been a 15-year journey for Bain and 11 or 12
years for Bain supporter Joe Karam.

Mr Reed said millions have been spent on the case by the Crown and
Legal Aid services has paid a lot to meet the case of the Crown.

He said Bain has had his travel restricted and for 15 years his life
has been effectively put on hold.

"He has had to be careful about reporters stalking him and things like
that, so his life has not been his for 15 years," Mr Reed said.