David Bain's retrial for the murder of five of his family in Dunedin in 1994 began in Christchurch today. Hit refresh throughout Monday for the latest updates. Or you can follow us on Twitter
4.00pm: Court is adjourned for the day and the case will continue on Monday morning. It is expected to last for at least three months.
3.54pm: Mr Reed said the fingerprints of David Bain, found on the rifle, were not in the firing position.
He said fingerprints of the murderer are only found on firearms in about three per cent of cases, according to Australian research.
Mr Reed said a bit of skin found in Stephen's room has been re-tested since the first trial and it has been found that the DNA does not match David Bain's.
But other evidence, including the blood found on Robin Bain's hands, has since been destroyed.
"That shows you what could've been done with new technology," Mr Reed said.
"In the United Kingdom, they have to keep evidence for 30 years, it's all chucked away here, it's thrown away," he said.
Mr Reed said the defence has evidence that the bloody sock-print found in the house could be Robin Bain's.
"If that's correct, it completely destroys the Crown's theory," he said.
Mr Reed said Joe Karam had proven that the police made many mistakes during their investigation and that sparked another police investigation which has proven Mr Karam right.
He told the jury that the defence also have evidence that shows the gurgling sound, said to have been heard by David Bain, is possible without him being the killer.
He said experts will be called who say that even in cases where someone has a fatal head injury they can make a gurgling sound.
Mr Reed also said that there had been a statement by the Crown that Bain could have been "faking" a fit or seizure but a psychiatrist will give evidence that he is suffering from post-traumatic stress.
He has finished his opening statement and court has adjourned until Monday morning.
3.24pm: Mr Reed said the police arrested David soon after the murders and were then on a one-track cause.
He said that caused police not to investigate other leads.
Mr Reed said some of the evidence was lost, destroyed or never collected, including blood samples removed from Robin Bain's hands and under his finger nails.
"Laniet's diaries and letters written to her mother have been destroyed," Mr Reed said.
He said there could be allegations of the sexual molestation in those diaries but they have since been destroyed.
Mr Reed said family photographs that would prove who wore the green jersey found in the laundry was not David's.
The computer with the "sorry" message is now also broken.
He said the police have also "cherry picked" evidence that suits their case while ignoring other evidence.
Mr Reed said police knew from a neighbour about the allegations of incest but did not follow it up.
"We know Laniet was going home that night to tell all," Mr Reed said.
3.03pm: Michael Reed QC has told the jury that David Bain's sister Laniet was "going around telling everybody" about being sexually molested by Robin Bain.
He said Laniet was coming home to tell her mother of the sexual molestation.
Mr Reed said that was the trigger because Robin Bain, a missionary and school teacher, would have had his life ruined by the allegations.
He said Robin Bain had been living in a van for three years out the back of the school and when he came home in the weekend he was "banished" to a campervan out the back of the house.
He said Laniet had stayed with Robin Bain in the van.
2.46pm: Michael Reed QC has introduced his team as the people who have "taken on the might" of the police and Crown.
He said the defence case is that David Bain did not kill anyone.
"The father tragically killed four of the family and then himself," Mr Reed said.
"We ask you to wait and please keep an open mind," he said.
He said the defence will call "startling evidence" that includes forensic evidence.
"There is plenty of evidence that Robin Bain did kill the family and committed suicide," Mr Reed said.
2.39pm: Mr Bates has given a brief outline of the witnesses to be called.
Michael Reed, QC, has begun his opening address.
2.34pm: Mr Bates gave a short description of some of the things David Bain said to police following the murder of his parents, two sisters and brother.
Mr Bates said Bain could not explain how he had received the bruise to his head and other injuries found by a doctor in the days following the murders.
He said Bain had said that all of the family had used the computer where the "sorry" message was found.
Mr Bates said Bain did not remember telling anyone he had had a premonition of the murders.
He said Bain had also said he did not recall wearing the glasses, one lens of which was found in Stephen Bain's room, the other lens was found in Bain's room.
2.20pm: Mr Bates has told the jury that Robin Bain did not commit suicide but was murdered, along with his family on the morning of June 20, 1994.
He said Robin Bain was found dead in the lounge, near where the .22 calibre rifle was found, along with a 10 shot magazine.
Mr Bates said Robin Bain had a full bladder when he died.
He said that means it is unlikely that he was involved in the struggle with Stephen Bain and was going about his normal routine which included collecting the paper.
Mr Bates said there were no fresh injuries on Robin Bain's body, only older injuries of his hands.
Mr Bates said while there was blood on Robin Bain's clothes, none of it links Mr Bain to the murders.
1.25pm: The lunch break has been taken at the High Court in Christchurch.
Earlier in the Crown's opening address, Mr Bates said no finger-prints belonging to Robin Bain were found on the .22 calibre rifle.
He said the computer screen with the message: "Sorry you are the only one who deserved to stay" and the paper round are both potential alibis but the Crown has evidence regarding both of them.
Mr Bates said the turn-on times of the computer does not eliminate the possibility that Bain was the author of the computer message.
He said some witnesses have said that the paper round was done faster than usual.
Mr Bates said there was about 20 minutes of "lost time" between the time that the Crown believes he finished his paper round - 6.45am - and the 111 call made by Bain - 7.10am - from the family home.
"When asked about this [at the time], he said he had been going into trances or spacing out recently," he said.
Mr Bates said Bain had also displayed some "unusual behaviour" in the days leading up to the murders.
Mr Bates said Bain told a friend that he had had a premonition and that he "sometimes knew what was going to happen". He also "told her he had a feeling something horrible was going to happen".
1.01pm: The Crown has said it has evidence that shows Stephen Bain's blood was found on David Bain's clothing.
Mr Bates said a lens from Bain's glasses was found in Stephen's room while the frames and another lens were found in Bain's room.
He said this was part of the evidence that links Bain to the struggle which took place in his younger brother's room.
Mr Bates said the trigger lock and the key to the .22 calibre rifle were also found in David Bain's room.
He said Bain had also tried to wash blood out of some of his clothing, including a green jersey, in the laundry.
"Woollen green fibres were taken from under Stephen's finger nails which match the fibres from the green jersey," he said.
Mr Bates said a partial palm print of David Bain was found on the washing machine.
He said Bain was also seen to have scratches on his chest above his nipples.
Mr Bates said a policeman also noticed a bruise on Bain's temple, about the size of a 50 cent piece.
12.52pm: Mr Bates has described how each of the bodies inside the house were found.
He said in Stephen Bain's room, it was clear that a "significant struggle had taken place".
Mr Bates said the room was in disarray and there was a large amount of blood.
He said Stephen had been shot twice with one bullet going through his hand and into his skull. The second shot killed him.
"Stephen appeared to have been strangled by the t-shirt he was wearing, it was bunched up around his neck," Mr Bates said.
He said Laniet Bain, David Bain's sister, had been shot three times.
His other sister, Arawa Bain was shot once in her head after she left her bed.
Margaret Bain, the mother of David Bain, was found in her bedroom and died as a result of one shot to her head.
The father, Robin Bain, was found in the lounge, on his side, between a bean bag and coffee table and had one bullet wound.
A .22 calibre rifle was found next to his body.
He said it is the Crown's case that David Bain killed his family members and it was not a murder/suicide by Robin Bain.
He said a computer with the message "Sorry, you are the only one who deserved to stay" was also found in the house and was an attempt to form an alibi.
12.31pm: Mr Bates said a Telecom operator received a 111 call on the morning of June 20 from David Bain who said his father was dead.
Mr Bates said he did not ask for the ambulance or the police but both were sent.
He said police got into the house by smashing a glass panel and turning the lock.
They found Bain in his bedroom, hysterical and sitting on the floor, "wailing: They're all dead, they're all dead".
He said police officers found the bodies in rooms throughout the house.
Mr Bates said Bain then went into a seizure and appeared to lose consciousness.
"Some attending him formed the view that the fit or seizure was not genuine," Mr Bates said.
12.16pm: Crown prosecutor Robin Bates has taken the jury through a plan of the Bain house at Every St in Dunedin, since burned down. It was the scene of the murders in 1994 which the Crown says David Bain committed.
Mr Bates said the house could have been described as "derelict".
He has taken the jury through computer images and some photographs of the rooms where each of the bodies of the Bain family were found by police on June 20, 1994.
12.08pm: Crown prosecutor Robin Bates has started the Crown opening address which he said could take two hours.
He said a booklet that will include Crown witnesses, estimated to be 150, will be handed out. They will also receive a booklet of exhibits.
11.46am: The court has broken for a 15 minute adjournment before opening statements by the Crown begin.
11.41am: "All that you've read, heard or seen is to be discarded," Justice Panckhurst has told the jury, acknowledging how much has been written about the case, including books.
"The onus to prove his guilt of allegations of murder which he faces rests with the Crown," Justice Panckhurst said.
He said they must prove "beyond reasonable doubt", which is of a high standard.
11.20am: The trial begins, court is now in session. Justice Panckhurst has welcomed the jury to the court room.
"I anticipate this is going to become a fairly familiar place for the next few weeks," Justice Panckhurst said.
He has introduced court staff and legal counsel to the jury.
10.50am: The jury of five men and seven women have taken an oath or affirmation.
Justice Panckhurst excused the jury for a 15 minute break while they phone family and work colleagues to let them know they will be jury members.
"I appreciate that having been selected to serve on this jury is a significant moment," Justice Panckhurst said,
10.48am: David Bain was read the five charges of murder by the registrar and answered not guilty in a steady voice with his hands by his side.
He stood through-out the jury selection process as 12 people were selected from a pool of 80 potential jurors in the the crowded court room two.
The jury attendant told them they may have to "fight their way through" to the jury box.
The large contingent of media has taken up the public gallery in court room 1 which forced the jury selection to take place in court room two next door.
The 12 members of the jury were selected with defence using three of their challenges and the prosecution using two.
The five men and seven women were told by Justice Panckhurst that it is essential they are impartial.
He said he had no doubt that they were aware of the case but if they had any personal connections to people who served as police officers in Dunedin in 1994, ESR scientists, St John ambulance officers or the Cullen and Bain families, then they should approach the bench.
Justice Graham Panckhurst said there would be 150 Crown witnesses called during the trial.
Four potential jurors did approach the bench and three were excused - two because they had a potential connection to witnesses and one for medical reasons.
10.36am: The jury panel has been selected for the Bain trial. Seven women and five men have been selected in the trial that could last months.
10.30am: Three jurors have been selected, with several others ruled out by challenges from the legal teams.
10.10am: 80 potential jurors have been assembled in courtroom 2, as jury selection begins. It is unclear how long the process will take. Security has been stepped up in the court, with people going through an x-ray machine and metal detector before being allowed in.
9.40am: The Crown plans to call at least 150 witnesses, with only a couple who gave evidence at the 1995 trial not available. It is not yet clear whether Bain himself will give evidence.
9.23am: David Bain has arrived at the court with his supporter Joe Karam. He smiled at waiting media but made no comment.
9.15am: Arthur Allan Thomas, who was wrongly convicted for the 1970s killings of a Waikato farming couple, has arrived at court. He is a Bain supporter.
8.30am: Media have arrived at the court and, due to the high interest in the case, have filled much of court room 1. Jury selection will therefore take place in court room 2 before the selected 12 jurors take their position in court 1 for the trial.
- NZ HERALD STAFF/AGENCIES
