Senior detective accused of gilding evidence

Milton Weir

Lawyers for murder accused David Bain tried to discredit the case yesterday, accusing a senior member of the police investigating team of "gilding the lily".

Milton Weir, the detective sergeant in charge of the crime scene after the death of Bain's parents and three siblings in June 1994, told the High Court at Christchurch yesterday he made a mistake about the location of an important lens which may have misled the jury in Bain's first murder trial. But he rejected claims by Bain's lawyer, Michael Reed, QC, that he was being untruthful or trying to "gild the lily". Mr Reed said at one stage that Mr Weir's response "sounds like Bill
Clinton - I have no present recollection".

Most of the exchanges with Mr Weir focused on the discovery of the lens from a pair of glasses, and exactly where it was found in the bedroom of Bain's younger brother Stephen, 14. The location is considered important as it may suggest how long the lens had been in the room.

The Crown says the lens came from glasses Bain wore when he was involved in a violent struggle with Stephen. Bain is accused of shooting dead Stephen, his father, Robin, mother Margaret and sisters Laniet and Arawa. Bain's lawyers argue Robin killed the rest of the family before committing suicide.

Mr Weir said he found the lens under an ice-skating boot in Stephen's room, and his mistake about it being at the toe of the boot was blamed on an optical illusion in a photograph he viewed.

Mr Reed put it to him that, as a result, he misled the jury in the first murder trial.

Mr Weir: Not intentionally. No, I did not.

Mr Reed: Mr Weir, you are not being truthful.

Mr Weir: Yes I am.

Mr Reed maintained it could not have been an innocent mistake when the "fake lens" would have been spotted earlier by others.

Mr Weir: "Well, I'm telling you that that's what happened, Mr Reed. It's like I have said before, if it had been a big red brick, you would have a point. But I'm talking about a small piece of glass".

Mr Weir then faced questioning over an approach by ophthalmologist Gordon Sanderson who gave evidence in the past about where the lens found in Stephen's room might have come from. Mr Reed said Mr Sanderson approached Mr Weir to change his original evidence that the lens came from David's glasses, when, after viewing a photograph, he decided it was from Margaret Bain's glasses.

In an affidavit, Mr Sanderson said Mr Weir told him he held the same view, and that his statement of evidence would be changed accordingly. But Mr Weir denied this.

"I have no recollection of having a conversation with Mr Sanderson where I was going to change his evidence."

Mr Sanderson also said Mr Weir raised the issue of dust covering the lens, but said that he would ignore it.

The dust would have implied that the lens had been in Stephen's room for some time.

But Mr Weir said this conversation never happened.

Mr Reed: You wished to gild the lily over your evidence, Mr Weir.

Mr Weir: That's nonsense, Mr Reed.

The questioning of Mr Weir continued on his failure to have pieces of carpet cut out where bloody sockprints were found in the Bain house. The five prints were lost in a fire about two weeks later.

Mr Weir agreed this was important evidence, and said he would have removed it if instructed by the forensic scientist who found the prints.