Stephen Bain had 'very violent, bloody struggle', court told

David Bain arrives at court for his trial. Photo / Pool

David Bain's younger brother Stephen was found covered in blood on the floor of his room, with a bullet wound right through the palm of his hand, a court has been told.

Detective Michael Bracegirdle told the High Court in Christchurch that it appeared Stephen had also been "scragged" around the neck by his own t-shirt.

Stephen was found dead in the Bain family home, along with four other members of his family on the morning of June 20, 1994.

David Bain, now 36, is on trial for murdering his parents and three siblings, but the defence say his father Robin killed four members of his family and then turned shot himself with a .22 rifle.

Mr Bracegirdle did a preliminary examination of Stephen's bedroom and found him on the floor, on top of various shoes and boots. He was wearing black underpants, and a white t-shirt over the upper part of his body. Only one of his arms was in a sleeve in the t-shirt.

"He was covered in blood. Blood was smeared around his head and face, on his arms......and on his leg."

"It was apparent Stephen had lost a lot of blood as he lay in that position."

Blood spots were found on the floor under his body.

"There was what appeared to be a gunshot wound in the palm of his hand," Mr Bracegirdle said.

Mr Bracegirdle said his search of the room indicated the red speck of paint may have come from a crushed red pencil under Stephen's body, while the white paint speck may have come from the corner of a desk in the room.

The diamond-shaped marks on Stephen's back may have come from the handles on a set of bedside drawers that had numerous blood spots on it, while one of the handles was bent.

Blood splattering was "everywhere" in the room.

"From my observations of Stephen's body and the amount of blood covering him, and the amount of blood in that scene, it was quite clear to me there had been a very violent and bloody struggle in that room."

The bullet wound to his palm had exited on the other side of his hand.

Mr Bracegirdle also noticed Stephen had various abrasions to his calf and forearm. A pathologist later uncovered further injuries such as a bullet wound to the top of his skull, which had bleed profusely, and diamond-shaped abrasions or bruises to his back.

His fingers were partially retracted "as if he had grabbed something and that's the way they remained", Mr Bracegirdle said.

The t-shirt wrapped around Stephen's neck had caused "significant abrasions to his neck, like he had been scragged".

Short woollen fibres were found by the pathologist on Stephen's fingers.

After blood was washed off his face, a speck or red paint was found on his chin, and a speck of white paint on his jaw.

A bullet fragment was removed from Stephen's skull by the pathologist.