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David Bain - Source: ONE News -
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Test firings of the murder rifle showed Robin Bain did not commit suicide, a pathologist has told the trial of David Bain for the murder of five members of his family.
Professor James Ferris told the High Court at Christchurch he believed the wound on Robin Bain's head was caused by a shot delivered from 38cm to 42cm away.
He based his finding on test firing results which showed gun powder markings similar to the wound on Robin Bain's head.
If the firearm was discharged at that range the wound could not have been self inflicted, he said.
The defence has argued Robin Bain killed his family and then himself.
The Crown alleges David Bain shot his parents and three siblings on 20 June, 1994.
Ferris also told the court that Robin Bain's body was moved and blood shaken out of his wound dripped onto a curtain.
The jury was told that Ferris believed if the blood on the curtain was from a gunshot, the spatters would be tiny, like a haze.
He said the position of the body concerned him, as the blood stains on the curtain were some distance from his body.
When he was shot he would have collapsed immediately and died, he said.
It was extremely rare for a right-handed man to shoot himself in the left temple, and it was not common for people committing suicide to shoot themselves in either temple.
He believed the range of the rifle was 30cm to 40cm away from Robin Bain's head, which ruled out suicide, and could not recall any other suicide case with a silencer on the rifle.
The abrasions on Robin Bain's hands were trivial, he said.
The slightly indented marks on the knuckles of the right hand were probably post-mortem pressure marks, from his hand lying on the floor where he was found.
The defence have contended that the marks on his hand could have been caused by contact with teeth.
