David Bain
(2022)(The first book in the Murder Down Under series)
A non fiction book by Marcus Brown and Netta Newbound
The story of the Bain family murders was one of New Zealand's most complex and controversial murder cases.
On the morning of 20th June 1994, David Bain discovered the slain bodies of his entire family after returning from his paper round. His mother, Margaret (50), his sisters Arawa (19) and Laniet (18) and brother Stephen (14) were all dead in their bedrooms. His father, Robin (58), whose lifeless body was in the living room near the front door, had a gunshot wound to the head. Beside his body, lying on the carpet, was David’s .22 calibre rifle with silencer.
Aside from the debate about who murdered David Bain's immediate family, questions have been raised about the police investigation itself, juror conduct, court decisions about the admissibility of evidence, and decisions by the New Zealand Court of Appeal.
The story is a bizarre, convoluted tale to say the least.
At first, police suspected Robin had snapped, killing everyone before turning the gun on himself while David was out of the house.
However, four days later, in a complete U-turn, David was arrested and charged with murder.
He spent 13 years in prison before the Privy Council overturned the conviction in 2007.
David was tried again in 2009 before finally being found not guilty. At both trials, the Crown argued that David had shot and killed his mother and three siblings, before going on his paper round (which took about an hour)–shooting his father upon his return.
Read on and see which camp you find yourself in.
David? Did David Bain murder his entire family? Or did he merely happen upon the massacre as he’s maintained for almost 30 years?
Robin? Was Robin responsible for annihilating most of his family before turning the gun on himself?
Neither? Could this have been a carefully planned and executed murder carried out by somebody else entirely? Investigators ruled this possibility out immediately. Why would a random person enter the house and kill everyone inside with absolutely nothing to gain. No sexual assault, no robbery, no motive.
As with all our cases, we will research this using open source and archive materials. We intend to examine all the theories and scenarios available and try to shed some light onto what happened that fateful morning.
On the morning of 20th June 1994, David Bain discovered the slain bodies of his entire family after returning from his paper round. His mother, Margaret (50), his sisters Arawa (19) and Laniet (18) and brother Stephen (14) were all dead in their bedrooms. His father, Robin (58), whose lifeless body was in the living room near the front door, had a gunshot wound to the head. Beside his body, lying on the carpet, was David’s .22 calibre rifle with silencer.
Aside from the debate about who murdered David Bain's immediate family, questions have been raised about the police investigation itself, juror conduct, court decisions about the admissibility of evidence, and decisions by the New Zealand Court of Appeal.
The story is a bizarre, convoluted tale to say the least.
At first, police suspected Robin had snapped, killing everyone before turning the gun on himself while David was out of the house.
However, four days later, in a complete U-turn, David was arrested and charged with murder.
He spent 13 years in prison before the Privy Council overturned the conviction in 2007.
David was tried again in 2009 before finally being found not guilty. At both trials, the Crown argued that David had shot and killed his mother and three siblings, before going on his paper round (which took about an hour)–shooting his father upon his return.
Read on and see which camp you find yourself in.
David? Did David Bain murder his entire family? Or did he merely happen upon the massacre as he’s maintained for almost 30 years?
Robin? Was Robin responsible for annihilating most of his family before turning the gun on himself?
Neither? Could this have been a carefully planned and executed murder carried out by somebody else entirely? Investigators ruled this possibility out immediately. Why would a random person enter the house and kill everyone inside with absolutely nothing to gain. No sexual assault, no robbery, no motive.
As with all our cases, we will research this using open source and archive materials. We intend to examine all the theories and scenarios available and try to shed some light onto what happened that fateful morning.
Used availability for Netta Newbound's David Bain