Coroner may hold Bain family inquests

The Dunedin coroner has said he might take another look at the Bain family's deaths, given David Bain's acquittal.

Chief coroner Neil MacLean said the implication of the verdict was that Robin Bain killed his family, then committed suicide, Radio New Zealand reported.

As a result, existing death certificates might be incorrect.

Dunedin coroner David Crerar said he was already considering whether to hold inquests into all five deaths.

Judge MacLean and lawyers say a coroner's inquest would not necessarily reach the same conclusions as the trial jury.

Manwhile the lawyer for Mr Bain hopes his relatives will be "generous" and give him back the inheritance that is legally his, he said today.

Mr Bain was initially convicted for the murders of his parents and three siblings so he received nothing from the sale of his family's properties, as it would have been regarded as benefiting from the proceeds of crime.

The family owned a house in Every Street in Dunedin, which was burnt down just weeks after his parents and three siblings were shot to death in June 1994.

Along with that house, the Bains owned a section in Whangarei and another in Bundaberg, near Brisbane.

They had about $60,000 invested with some friends and a substantial amount in an overseas bank account, The Press reported.

Mr Bain has been retried and acquitted of the murder charges and his lawyer, Michael Reed, QC, said he could do with the sale proceeds and savings to help build a new life.

"It would be a very nice gesture if the family gave him the money that originally lawfully belonged to him and was taken from him only because he was convicted," Mr Reed said.

"Now he's not convicted you would like to think the family would like to give it back."

Some of Mr Bain's extended family gave evidence at his retrial for the prosecution but Mr Reed said, despite that, he hoped they would be "generous".

"I haven't heard anything from the family yet but I'm hoping they might wish to make that gesture to David - he's got no money after all."

Mr Bain's previous lawyer, Colin Withnall, QC, said it was an unusual situation.

There was a provision under the Judicature Act for payments made under a mistake of fact or law, which could apply to the family members, but it would be difficult to pursue, Mr Withnall said.

"Although one could argue they knew he (Mr Bain) was appealing."

Mr Bain's relatives told media they would not comment on the inheritance.

"We need time," Valerie Boyd, one of Margaret Bain's sisters, told the Herald on Sunday.

Mr Bain might also find it difficult to receive any compensation for his 13 years' jail.

Justice Minister Simon Power said any application would probably be referred to a senior lawyer to consider.

There was no legal right for compensation in such cases and the grounds for awarding it were narrow, he said.

Mr Bain's case would be considered on its merits if an application was made.

If he did win compensation, he could be in line for a lucrative payout - David Dougherty received $868,000 in 1997 after DNA tests proved he did not commit a rape and abduction for which he was convicted. He had served three years for the crime.

Meanwhile Green Party police spokesman Keith Locke says the police need to review their "serious mishandling" of the Bain case over the past 15 years.

Mr Locke said the police had a case of "tunnel vision'' in their investigation of the murders.

"Successive police officers were unable to admit that they were on the wrong track, as ever more evidence of David Bain's innocence came to light,'' he said.

"They should now question why they recommended a second trial, which forced David Bain to relive the horror of the 1994 murders, as well as being hugely expensive.''

- NZPA