Bain family memorial — Credit: Benchill · CC BY-SA 3.0
On the morning of 20 June 1994, five members of the Bain family were found shot dead at their home at 65 Every Street in the Andersons Bay area of Dunedin, New Zealand. The dead were Robin Bain, aged 58, a primary school principal; his wife Margaret, aged 50; and three of their children, Arawa, 19, Laniet, 18, and Stephen, 14. All had been killed with a .22-calibre rifle. The only other person present was the eldest son, David Bain, then aged 22, who telephoned emergency services shortly after 7 a.m. He and his father were the two people ever identified as possible perpetrators.
Four days later, police charged David Bain with all five deaths. At a 1995 trial in the Dunedin High Court he was convicted on every count and sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum of sixteen years. His case was subsequently championed by a prominent public campaigner, and after several unsuccessful appeals the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council in London quashed the convictions in 2007, ruling that a substantial miscarriage of justice had occurred, and ordered a new trial. David Bain was released on bail after nearly thirteen years in prison. At a 2009 retrial in the Christchurch High Court he pleaded not guilty and, after a trial lasting about three months, was acquitted on all five charges. He is therefore not guilty in the eyes of the law.
The case turned on two competing accounts. The prosecution argued that David Bain shot his mother, two sisters and brother, left on his early-morning paper round, returned home, and then shot his father. It pointed to evidence such as his connection to the rifle and a spectacle lens said to have been found in his brother's room. The defence argued instead that the father, Robin Bain, killed his wife and children and then took his own life, and it presented evidence about his deteriorating mental state and estrangement from the family. The defence further alleged that Robin was motivated by an incestuous relationship with one of his daughters that was about to be exposed. That murder-suicide account was a defence theory; Robin Bain was never charged and is counted among the victims.
After his acquittal, David Bain sought compensation for wrongful conviction and imprisonment. One government-commissioned review concluded he was innocent on the balance of probabilities, but that finding was disputed and a second reviewer reached the opposite conclusion. In 2016 the government made an ex gratia payment of NZ$925,000 in what it described as full and final settlement, without accepting that the compensation threshold had been met. Because the sole conviction was quashed and the retrial ended in acquittal, no one now bears legal responsibility for the deaths, and the case remains among the most debated in New Zealand's history.
Arawa Bain, Robin Irving Bain, Margaret Arawa Bain, Laniet Bain, Stephen Bain
Date
2007
Location
65 Every Street, Andersons Bay, Dunedin
Case status
overturned
Case timeline
1994-06-20
Five members of the Bain family are found shot dead at the family home at 65 Every Street, Andersons Bay, Dunedin. Eldest son David Bain calls emergency services shortly after 7 a.m.
1994-06-24
David Bain is charged with the five deaths.
1995-05-29
David Bain is convicted on all five counts of murder after an 18-day trial at the Dunedin High Court.
1995-06-21
He is sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum non-parole period of 16 years.
1995-12-19
The Court of Appeal dismisses his first appeal against conviction.
2007-05-10
The Privy Council quashes the convictions, finding that a substantial miscarriage of justice had occurred, and orders a retrial.
2007-05-15
David Bain is released on bail pending retrial, after nearly 13 years in prison.
2007-06-21
The Solicitor-General announces that David Bain will be retried.
2009-03-06
The retrial begins at the Christchurch High Court; David Bain pleads not guilty to all five charges.
2009-06-05
David Bain is acquitted on all five counts of murder.
2010-03-25
David Bain lodges a claim for compensation for wrongful conviction and imprisonment.
2012
A government-commissioned review by retired Canadian Supreme Court justice Ian Binnie concludes that David Bain is innocent on the balance of probabilities; the report is subsequently disputed and peer-reviewed.
2016-08-02
A second review by retired Australian High Court justice Ian Callinan finds that David Bain had not proved his innocence on the balance of probabilities; the government makes an ex gratia payment of NZ$925,000 in full and final settlement.
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The Slippery Case of The Bain Family Massacre
People
Arawa Bain
VICTIM
Daughter, aged 19, a teachers' training college student; one of the five family members shot dead at the home.
Robin Irving Bain
VICTIM
Father, aged 58, and principal of Taieri Beach School; one of the five family members shot dead at the home. At the 2009 retrial the defence advanced a theory that he killed the others and then took his own life, but this was an unproven defence theory; he was never charged and is recorded among the victims.
Margaret Arawa Bain
VICTIM
Mother, aged 50; one of the five family members shot dead at the home.
Laniet Bain
VICTIM
Daughter, aged 18; one of the five family members shot dead at the home.
David Cullen Bain
ACQUITTED
Eldest son and the only survivor, aged 22 at the time. Convicted of all five murders in 1995; the Privy Council quashed those convictions in 2007, citing a substantial miscarriage of justice, and he was acquitted on all five counts at a 2009 retrial. He is not guilty in law and must not be described as responsible for the deaths.
Stephen Bain
VICTIM
Son, aged 14, a high school student and the youngest family member; one of the five family members shot dead at the home.
Roles reflect public records and court outcomes at the time of writing — supporting citations are on file under Sources.
In June 1994, five members of the Bain family, parents Robin and Margaret and three of their children, Arawa, Laniet and Stephen, were shot dead at their home in Dunedin, New Zealand. Eldest son David Bain was convicted in 1995, but the Privy Council quashed his convictions in 2007 and he was acquitted on all counts at a 2009 retrial; the case remains publicly disputed.
