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The jury at David Bain's retrial has heard the recording of the 111 call he made on the morning five members of his family were found murdered nearly 15 years ago.
The Crown's questions focussed on exactly what Bain told emergency services.
He was questioned about why he had said in his 111 call, "Help they're all dead", when he had only seen two of the bodies of his family members.
Detective Sergeant Gregory Dunne gave his evidence on day seven of the trial of Bain on charges of murdering five members of his family at their home in Every Street, Dunedin, in June 1994.
In Bain's statement to the police, read out in court, he said he did his paper round at 5.45am and when he got home went into his room and put his gear away.
He went downstairs and put the washing on, then washed his hands to get rid of the printer's ink on them.
When he re-entered his bedroom he turned on the light and noticed rifle cartridges on the floor. His cupboard was open and shells under his shoes had been moved.
He ran to his mother's bedroom saying, "Mum, what's going on?" and said she had her eyes open but didn't respond.
He ran into the lounge and saw his father lying on the floor.
He said he did not know why he went into the lounge. There had been no hesitation - he just went in there, he told the police.
He dialled 111 and took the telephone into his bedroom to talk to the police. He was still in there when the police and ambulance arrived.
He said he didn't go into any other family members' rooms.
When asked why he said "they're all dead" in his 111 call he couldn't explain it and said he had only seen his mother and father.
He said his mother and father were always finding fault with each other and had lived apart for over a year.
His father slept in a van at the property most weekends and stayed in a flat with his sister Laniet during the week.
Bain said he and his father had constant battles, that his father would assert his authority, his right to rule the roost.
His mother had made his father move out, as he had treated her
as a housewife, the lady in the kitchen.
Bain said she realised her life was for his father's gratification
and she felt oppressed by him.
Detective Sergeant Dunne says he interviewed Bain again the day after the killings.
Bain was visibly upset, crying and sobbing.
"He said that black hands were coming to get them and that he was not able to stop them. He said that if he had run home he may have saved them. He said that black hands were pulling them away."
The officer then told of Bain wanting to blame someone.
They discussed the three possible scenarios, but discounted the first - that some stranger had come into the house and killed the five.
The other possibilities were that the killer was Bain or his father.
Bain replied: "If it was Dad, I would be very disappointed."
The retrial is before Justice Graham Panckhurst and a jury in the High Court at Christchurch.
