'Key' question from TV1s Steve Marshall

Of course most followers of the tragic Bain case know that the familicide happened in 1994, 18 years ago come June this year. David was the only person alive in the house when the police arrived to find 5 deceased, including David's father Robin in what can be described as the classic collapse following a suicide shot to the left temple. Naturally over the next few days David was interviewed, made several statements and was, and it is shown now, arrested cruelly in such a manner that he was unable to attend the funerals of his dead family.

When formally charged, the young man, who had been relatively complaint because of his faith in the police and because he knew he was innocent,  said 'I'm not guilty.' Something he was to repeat 5 times at a later depositions hearing, and the mistrial which resulted in his false imprisonment. Following his conviction being overturned and facing a new trial when asked if he was guilty or not he repeated 5 times that he was not guilty.

Following the longest criminal trial in NZ history an empanelled Jury were asked, following their deliberations, how they found David, 'guilty or not guilty?' As history shows they returned 5 not guilty verdicts after a very short time. So one man for approaching half of his life was found not guilty of charges that had stolen a dozen or more years of his life, throughout that period he had always maintained his innocence, something which had keep him going in a hostile environment without a future.

All relatively, apart from the tragedy, complete. Well complete except that David's life was never to be the same after he lost his family. Furthermore to be falsely imprisoned as well makes it difficult to imagine what worse misadventure could happen upon one man. It was that one man that spoke at the recent International Justice Conference in Perth. David might have viewed it as therapeutic, or simply have been driven by the need to be part of a consciousness that should be of interest to all people, that systems of civil governance can go horribly wrong, failed by those empowered to operate them - mere men and women with the same potential prejudices, hate, apathy or even disdain when they enter the lives of others with the power of the state behind them. While some may uphold the challenge of remaining dispassionate, others might fall foul of the power that may give an intoxicating god-like view of themselves and be consumed to a greater or lesser degree by that. Those that do fall victim to the power, fall a long way into a state of their own importance, falling blind at the same time to their sworn duties. So David may have wished to speak for a number of reasons, reasons entirely divorced from those that I suggest. But what he clearly spoke about was his own experience as an innocent man sought to be slowly slain by god-like figures of right and Justice, and by others who were compelled not to speak out, abide their duty or those that simply looked away.

So again something approaching two decades of saying 'I didn't kill my family' and an acquittal behind him.Enter Steve Marshall TV1 reporter, listen to his intro if you watch the news clip, he had a 'key question,' seemingly something new and important and he believed that David had taken 'the gamble' by attending a media conference after his presentation of the way his life had been stolen and largely destroyed by the forces of the state gone wrong. Steve Marshall, against all the past background of the Bain case, and indeed having sat through   the presentation by David needed to ask the 'key question' did you kill your family?