Bain trial: Policeman said 'David is the enemy', court told

David Bain's defence argues that his father Robin (inset) shot dead the family before killing himself. Photos / Pool

A policeman told David Bain's extended family "David is the enemy and we're going to get him", a court heard today.

Two other witnesses said Laniet was having sex with her father.

David Bain, 37 is on trial for the murder of his parents, his two sisters and his brother in their Dunedin home on June 20, 1994.

His defence team argues that Robin Bain, 58, shot dead the family before turning the rifle on himself.

Michael Mayson - a second cousin of David Bain and a first cousin of his father Robin and said the family were given a briefing by police in the week following the murders where they were told that "David is the enemy".

He said he was shocked by the comment and it is the only thing he remembers from the briefing.

Mr Mayson also gave evidence about what Robin Bain looked like at the beginning of 1994, describing him as "gaunt, ill, wasted".

"My first thought was he had a terminal illness but I was assured he was all right.

"I have a lot of regret that I didn't take him to one side but he looked seriously ill," Mr Mayson said.

Under cross-examination, Mr Mayson was asked by Crown prosecutor Kieran Raftery if it was possible he had gotten "the wrong end of the stick".

Mr Mayson said that was not the case.

The High Court in Christchurch earlier heard that Laniet Bain told a shop keeper and a prostitute with whom she worked that she had been sexually abused by her father.

The man who owned the shop has been granted name suppression.

He said Laniet would come into his shop dressed in pyjamas and was normally "chatty".

However, one day she came in crying and said she was "having an affair with her father", the man said.

"I was completely gobsmacked. I didn't know how to respond," the man said.

He also said that on the day before the Bain family killings, Robin - looking "vague" and "unkempt" - came into his shop to pay Laniet's account.

Under cross-examination, he said it was not the first time Robin had paid Laniet's account.

A former prostitute also told the court that Laniet had said she was sexually abused by her father and had given birth to her father's child.

The woman - who has name suppression - said she employed Laniet to work with her as a prostitute in 1993.

"We had a really good relationship, we were friends," the woman said,

She said during one of their jobs working as "a double" with a client, the woman noticed Laniet had stretch marks on her stomach and breasts.

The woman said she and Laniet also had clients at Taieri Beach, where Robin Bain was a principal at the local school.

She said Laniet burst into tears and was "petrified" when they drove past the school.

The woman said Laniet turned to prostitution because she could not get the dole.

"She clicked on to it. She pretty much knew what to do," the woman said.

She said she and Laniet would often talk and on one occasion she was shown a photograph of a baby. She said Laniet told her the baby was hers and she had given birth after being sexually abused.

Under cross-examination, Crown prosecutor Kieran Raftery asked if Laniet had only told her of the sexual abuse after the woman told Laniet she had been raped.

The woman said Laniet had told her about the sexual abuse on more than one occasion.