Restore David Bain's reputation, police urged

  • Breaking
  • 26/06/2013

David Bain's legal team is calling on police to admit they got it wrong in blaming him for the 1994 massacre of his family.

3rd Degree presented new evidence last night showing black marks on father Robin Bain's thumb and index finger, which suggest he was the one who loaded the gun before – and during – the murders.

Robin, his wife Margaret, daughters Laniet and Arawa and son Stephen, were found dead in their home on the morning of June 20, 1994. David Bain, 22 at the time, was charged with all five murders and found guilty. He spent 13 years in prison before having his conviction quashed by the Privy Council in London, and a retrial ended with a jury finding him not guilty on all five counts.

The defence has always maintained Robin was the killer, and lawyer Michael Reed, QC, says the new evidence is a "slam dunk".

"David has now been shown to be innocent, and it's proved that his father was loading the gun, handling the gun, and the Crown – when they appeared at the Privy Council – always acknowledged to the law lords that if Robin was involved in any way, then their case couldn't be maintained," he said on Firstline this morning.

"If this had been known originally, David would never have even been arrested, let alone charged."

The black marks were spotted by Waikato businessman David Giles in a police photograph taken immediately after the murders.

"What struck me was the marks that were on Robin Bain's thumb and forefinger," says Mr Giles. "I had a five-shot magazine, and I can remember getting marks like that on my hands when I loaded bullets and handled the magazine."

For nearly two decades no one noticed the black marks in the photo, or did, but failed to understand their significance. The photo was even presented as evidence in the 2009 retrial – by the prosecution.

Firearms experts 3rd Degree spoke to all agreed the marks were from loading the .22 rifle used in the murders.

Mr Reed says it's more than enough to prove – on the balance of probabilities – that Mr Bain is innocent, and therefore eligible for compensation.

"We have a Canadian Supreme Court judge saying he's innocent; we've had a jury say he's innocent; we've had the Privy Council cancel the conviction; what more do you want, when you now find there's evidence from all the experts which show that there are these marks on the thumb, that it could only come from playing around with the gun?

"The police have always said that Robin Bain never touched the gun. Here is evidence that he was touching it, and he was loading it. What more does anyone want, for goodness' sake?"

President of the Criminal Bar Association, former police detective and a former lawyer for David, Tony Bouchier, says it is a "very, very strong" piece of evidence that clears the way for compensation.

"I think it's time now David Bain's reputation was restored, and that can be done by the police acknowledging that this is a crucial piece of evidence which points to Robin, and I think it's time now for the Government not only to restore David Bain's reputation, but also Justice [Ian] Binnie's reputation.

"There has to be a response from the police. The police have to look at it. The public of New Zealand have had the opportunity of looking at it because it is very visual evidence.

"There is no other explanation, and it's time now for the police to restore David Bain's reputation."

A report commissioned by Justice Minister Judith Collins, and penned by retired Canadian Supreme Court judge Ian Binnie found David "factually innocent" and eligible for compensation, which some have estimated could be as much as $2 million.

Ms Collins rejected the report as "fundamentally flawed" and commissioned another which rubbished the first, and has admitted a third is likely.  

Mr Reed says the Crown should just give up and admit it got it wrong.

"Now's the time for justice for David, and not to be fighting us," he says. "They should be helping us, because it's a police mistake all these years ago."

The biggest error police made – if the marks on Robin's hand are indeed the result of loading the rifle – was failing to wrap his hands in plastic bags.

"It was a poor investigation – history shows that," says Mr Bouchier. "Those marks should have been preserved, they should have been spotted at the time that the police were doing their examination of the crime scene.

"The problem was that from the time that Robin's body was removed from the crime scene and taken to the mortuary, the proper procedures weren't followed. His hands weren't covered to protect any powder residue, and that was a problem."

"The police were meant to have put plastic bags around the hands to prevent any marks coming off," says Mr Reed. "They were negligent in doing that, and that's why there are no marks when he got to the mortuary. That's what all the gun experts tell us, and I believe it."

3rd Degree promoted the new evidence as a "game changer", and Mr Bouchier agrees.

"I just had a coffee nearby here, and the woman there said well, up until last night she thought that he was guilty – and she says she's now changed her mind. I think most New Zealanders will have a change of heart."

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source: newshub archive