The case against David Bain for the murder of his parents and siblings in 1994, in Dunedin, New Zealand...
First published at Qondio:
Introducing the members of Blog.co.uk to the facts of the David Bain case for which he was charged, imprisoned and later released at a subsequent retrial:
On the 20 June 1994 a horrified New Zealand nation awoke to the horrific news and details of the Bain family murders. Five people had been shot dead as they lay sleeping at 65 Avery Street, in the quiet suburb of Andersons Bay in Dunedin, New Zealand.
The News bulletins mentioned that there had been only one survivor of the massacre and nobody had been arrested at that time.
From the outset there was srong speculation that the father, school-teacher, Robin Bain, had killed his family, sparing only his eldest son, David.
But the nation was in for its second shock of the week when police arrested 22 year old David and charged him with the murder of his parents and siblings.
This set in train one of New Zealand's most controversial murder investigations since Arthur Allan Thomas's conviction for the murder of husband and wife Harvey and Jeanette Crewe back in in the 1970's, and his subsequent pardon by Prime Minister, Sir Robert Muldoon, with nearly one million dollars in compensation.
David Bain was the paper delivery boy seen, and still seen on news film, exclaiming,"They are all dead, they are all dead!"
I have provided a link below to Crime New Zealand, which provides all details of the case until 2010, when after an eventual retrial which declared David Bain not guilty, with his supporters seeking compensation from the New Zealand Government, New Zealand received a third shock when a television documentary claimed his late father, Robin Bain, could not have committed the crime. Of course, David Bain's defence team disputes this as total nonsense. But the documentary claimed Robin Bain had no blood on his shoes or clothing, and his fingerprints were not found on the rifle he was allegedly claimed to have committed suicide with - did a dead man come back to life and wipe his prints from the gun? This controversey still has a few more miles left in it yet.
Acknowledgements: Peter Petterson
