Bain trial: Shot 'compatible with suicide'

Oral surgeon Donald Adams spoke about possible teeth marks on Robin Bain's hand. Photo / Pool

A pathology expert has described the gunshot that killed Robin Bain as perfectly compatible with suicide, and refused to place weight on statistics on how suicide is carried out.

Victorian pathology professor Stephen Cordner also told the High Court in Christchurch yesterday that Laniet Bain may have survived long enough after being shot three times to be heard gurgling.

Dr Cordner gave evidence on a video link from Melbourne for the defence of David Bain, 37, who is on trial for the murder of his parents and three siblings in their Dunedin home on June 20, 1994.

Bain's defence team says his father Robin, 58, shot dead the family and then himself.

Bain told police he got home after the shootings and heard his sister Laniet making a gurgling noise.

The court also heard yesterday that marks on Robin's hand could be the result of coming into contact with his son Stephen's teeth in a struggle.

But oral surgeon Donald Adams said the marks could equally have been caused by other things.

Dr Cordner examined photographs and other evidence and said Robin had a "contact or near contact wound" inflicted while the rifle was against, or virtually against, his left temple.

"What I would say is that, based on the characteristics of the wound ... the wound to the head of Mr Bain is perfectly compatible with self-infliction."

He did not see any signs of stippling - dispersed powder marks from the rifle - which prosecution experts have identified as a reason for finding that the rifle was further away from the head when fired.

Pathology professor James Ferris said in his evidence for the prosecution that the rifle was likely to have been 20cm to 32cm from the head, making suicide impossible in his view.

It had been suggested that it was rare for a right-handed person like Robin to shoot himself in the left temple, but Dr Cordner said it was well-known in pathology literature that this sometimes occurred.

Prosecutor Cameron Mander put to Dr Cordner a published article reviewing 1704 cases of suicide using a rifle. It said 22.9 per cent were to the right temple and only 3.3 per cent to the left temple.

Asked about the statistics compared to the percentage of right-handed population, Dr Cordner said this was the wrong way to interpret them.

He did not agree that the left temple was an unlikely or less probable site for Robin to commit suicide.

Laniet, 18, was shot in the cheek, above her left ear and on the top of her head while in her bed. The prosecution says if Bain heard her gurgling, it must have been after he inflicted the first shot to her cheek.

But Dr Cordner said Laniet may have been able to survive all three shots and continue breathing for a period afterwards. It was reasonable to say minutes rather than hours.

Other witnesses for the defence have suggested gurgling noises could have come from Laniet even after she was dead. But Dr Cordner said he had no experience of this.

Victorian forensic scientist Peter Ross said the unusually large wound to the top of Laniet's head indicated the bullet struck another target first.