-
Watch Video
-
Related
As Joe Karam told supporters outside court, he was a much younger man when he began his campaign to clear David Bain's name.
The 13 year fight was a personal obsession for what he believed in and the not guilty verdicts were a judgment as much on Karam as on Bain himself.
He has been Bain's tireless campaigner, mouthpiece, supporter, benefactor and media minder. And he had no doubt the not guilty verdicts would one day be reached.
"It is my personal view that no jury in New Zealand would convict," he said in May 2007.
Those close to Karam say the victory is a testament to his tenacity.
"He's hung in there with tremendous determination, intelligence and sheer willpower which to me is awesome," says journalist Pat Booth.
The former All Black once had it all - a 10 acre spread in rural Clevedon, successful businesses and investment properties, flash cars, racehorses, private education for his children. One of those children is barrister Matt who is on the defence team.
Thirteen years on that fortune has largely gone and his current Te Kauwhata home is a far more modest affair. His millions, and he claims many friendships, have been chewed up by the fight to free Bain.
"In some ways the cost to my life has been greater than the financial cost," he said in June 1997.
Karam first became intrigued with the case at the age of 44 - a year after Bain's imprisonment. Since then he has battled through this trial, two appeal court hearings, two Privy Council hearings, a Police Complaints Authority review, a judicial review, a defamation suit from Dunedin police and multiple legal battles with media outlets.
He has written and released two books on the case - David and Goliath in 1996; Bain and Beyond in 2000.
He is now almost 58.
"For 11 Christmases now I have said to David I am sure this will all be over by next Christmas."
Booth knows well the doggedness such a fight requires - he crusaded for seven years to free Arthur Allan Thomas who was wrongly convicted twice, jailed, then given a royal pardon for the murders of Jeanette and Harvey Crewe in 1970.
Like that case, Karam's fight also gripped the nation.
"Society has a debt to owe him for the work he's done and the practical way he's shown that there's life in the justice system and that although it may take years...he's shown that it can be done," says Booth.
Thomas is now a neighbour of Karam's and was in court supporting the Bain camp at the start of this trial.
But this was Joe Karam's fight - his time to shine.
