Timeline of Bain case

Here are the key dates in the David Bain case.

June 20, 1994 – David Bain's parents, Robin and Margaret, two sisters Laniet and Arawa and brother Stephen are shot and killed in their Dunedin home. Bain calls emergency services in a distraught state.

June 24, 1994 – Bain is charged with five counts of murder. The following day the rest of his family are farewelled by 1000 mourners.

July 7, 1994 – Bain home is razed by Fire Service at request of family.

October 1994 – Depositions hearing begins and Bain is committed for trial in May 1995.

May 8, 1995 – Three-week-long murder trial begins in the High Court at Dunedin.

May 29, 1995 – Jury finds Bain guilty on all five murder counts.

June 21, 1995 – Bain sentenced to mandatory life term, with a minimum non-parole period of 16 years.

December 19, 1995 – Court of Appeal dismisses Bain appeal.

May, 1996 – A petition to Privy Council seeking leave to appeal fails.

July 22, 1996 – Court of Appeal lifts suppression order covering defence witness Dean Cottle and evidence that was to have been presented at Bain's murder trial. It alleges Laniet told Cottle that her father was having an incestuous affair with her and she was going to confront the family about it.

February, 1997 – Bain defence team prepares petition to Governor-General seeking a pardon.

April 16, 1997 – Joe Karam launches his book, David and Goliath. It says Robin, not David, was the killer, and that police botched the investigation.

May 5, 1997 – Police appoint Assistant Commissioner Brion (crrt) Duncan to head an independent inquiry reviewing police handling of the murder investigation.

June 23, 1997 – James McNeish releases his book, The Mask of Sanity, concluding that David was the killer.

November 25, 1997 – Police in the murder investigation are cleared by the joint police and Police Complaints Authority inquiry. It finds no major flaws in the police investigation and says criticism that police were incompetent is unjustified.

March 1998 – Police say Dunedin officers will sue Karam over claims in his book.

June 1998 – Petition of 113 pages and 290-page supporting document seeking a pardon for Bain is lodged with the Governor-General.

June 1999 – Former Dunedin pathologist Jim Gwynne presents petition to Governor-General seeking pardon for Bain. Dr Gwynne says evidence shows Robin Bain committed suicide.

June 9, 2000 – Damages suit brought against Karam by two Dunedin detectives, one since retired, fails at the High Court in Auckland.

December 19, 2000 – Bain has aspects of his case referred back to the Court of Appeal. Justice minister Phil Goff said an investigation had shown that "a number of errors" may have occurred in the Crown's presentation of its case.

October 2002 – Court of Appeal considers four aspects of the case referred to it by Mr Goff.

December 20, 2002 – Mr Goff announces the case is to be reheard in full by Court of Appeal.

December 13, 2003 – Court of Appeal decides a retrial was not needed on the grounds that the new evidence would not have changed the jury's verdict.

June 7, 2006 – Bain's legal team wins right to a full Privy Council hearing.

March 8, 2007 – Five-day Privy Council hearing in London begins.

May 10, 2007 – Privy Council quashes Bain's convictions, saying there had been a substantial miscarriage of justice.

May 15, 2007 – Bain released on bail, in High Court at Christchurch.

June 21, 2007 – Solicitor-General David Collins orders a retrial.

March 6, 2009 – Retrial starts in the High Court at Christchurch.

June 5, 2009 – Jury finds Bain not guilty on the five murder charges.

-NZPA