Margaret Bain - somehow forgotten?

·    On 13 December 1992 she writes:

"Robin is not of 65 Every Street. I suddenly feel excitement as I contemplate God's solving of that problem. I pray for tranquility/serenity throughout the process. After months (years) of fear over this I finally feel confident that God will allow him to do no harm. I understand that harm is flexible and depends on circumstances."

With the dust continuing to settle on David Bain's innocence there becomes more time to remember Margaret and her lost children. From what little I know of Margaret her life had become somewhat 'frozen' between her faith and that of her lost marriage. As time moves on there is reason to suspect that Margaret, her family life, her children and her marriage will be studied for clues as to what may have contributed to her apparent descent into depression and uncertainty in the months before her death. It isn't necessary for the Law to have delved into the family, although it might well have assisted the settling of this case along time ago. I should say at the outset that 'Robin Bain supporters' generally have been dismissive of Margaret and her problems in their 'zeal' to exonerate her husband for the murder of the entire family apart from David. Comments made about her apparent laziness, willingness to live in a hovel have contributed to the hate-siters being dismissive of her. In fact she has often been portrayed as the enemy in the 'war' to prove that it was not Robin but rather David that killed the family. Most unfortunately, there have been quite disgusting allegations made against her of a sexual kind, in order, I suppose to negate the now known evidence that shows had Robin not died he may have faced charges of abuse against his daughters. It's an extreme characteristic of blind hate against somebody that allegations, without any basis that has arisen in the case literature, reporting, or as genuine evidence against Margaret, that some Robin supporters should suggest she was involved in incest with her own children. Anonymous 'haters' have said a new house was to be built at 65 Every Street in which she would 'share' a room with one of her sons. This of course from people who became absolutely livid by the allegation that at least one of her daughters was about to go to the police to reveal allegations of incest against Robin - a potential motive for the murder that was never investigated. As this blog progresses it will be open for a reader to conclude that this hate may have in fact been driven by some police, certainly some of the details revealed an 'insiders' knowledge that may have been available to any investigators who chose to 'leak facts.'

How some people could heap such allegations against Margaret to 'defend' those against Robin is an insight to the mentality that has seen a type of cult rise in the name of Robin Bain. Much as it is unpalatable it reveals the real hatred by the cult of anyone who doesn't see things 'their way' and what steps they have been prepared to take to influence opinion in Robin's favour. Small likelihood of any enduring sucess of course but a true revelation of what inspired the hate campaigns. Margaret, it was give in evidence, looked for signs before making decisions in the months before her death, she spent an extraordinary amount of time in bed in the time preceding her death - a classic sign that she had lost confidence, that she was stuck somewhere and needed 'faith' and 'signs' to carry on. The real question therefore becomes what drove Margaret to such a state, how did a once dynamic woman deteriorate to the point that one of her few motivations was to 're-build' excluding Robin from her life and that of her children.

Let's look for some clues supporting what could be a psychological move to rebuild say shattered confidence or dreams. Rating high be her failing marriage, more pressing perhaps - fear. Margaret Bain told a confidant who gave evidence that she was 'afraid' Robin would get a gun and 'kill the lot of them.' Look above at what I have opened this blog with, words from Margaret's own diary, where the same again is apparent - her fear of Robin. By then of course Robin was estranged. When he 'lived' at home, it was outside in a van. By the time of Margaret's death it appears 'Robin' had been 'outside' the marriage for a long time. On the night preceding the killings a meeting was held with the family excluding Robin, but most importantly 'including' the youngest daughter Laniet. It would be Laniet, that several witnesses would later tell police, who had revealed a 'relationship' with her father - something that appears may have been responsible for also 'driving' Laniet outside the family into youthful prostitution.

So even when the hate-siters have attacked Robin's victims they have also chosen to overlook that there was disorder in his life and his relationship with his family. He was not perfect, just as Margaret was not imperfect. It appears from what little is known about the meeting that the 'girls' of the family had reconciled that night, not knowing that in the morning they would all be dead. Indeed that Margaret's fears about 'Robin getting a gun' would become a reality. If Robin was indeed motivated by 'keeping the secret' then the entire inquiry into the murders took that line. Robin was never investigated despite what we know now about the blood and forensic trail which led to him, and which was recently confirmed that the gunshot forensics of his death were indicative that he had suicided the morning of the deaths of his wife and 3 of the children. He was never investigated. The allegations of incest were never investigated, a electronic dairy said to have the names of Laniet's 'clients' perhaps police among them, 'disappeared' whilst in the custody of police.

Looking for corroboration as to why the incest was not investigated as a possible motive, Detective Seargeant Doyle said it was because 'they (police) had a murder to solve.' A cynic, reflecting on written reports of police being involved illegally in the activities of the brothel where Laniet worked at least at some point, might consider the police, or at least some members, could not 'afford' such an inquiry. On firm ground we all know that there were only 2 suspects for the Bain homicides, and that 1 wasn't investigated. We also know a senior figure in the Bain homicide squad retired early after David was convicted in the 1st trial that is now recorded in history as an 'actual Miscarriage of Justice.' Perhaps reasons for the refusal to investigate Robin, the allegations of police involved in the homicide inquiry of also being involved in the 'prostitution business', the premature retirement of one figure, the lost diary will one day emerge as a continuity in this tragedy. Potentially, as a point of reference, if ever a Royal Commission is formed to investigate what went wrong in the Bain case,  what went wrong in the Bain family before they splintered apart, looked to re-unite except for Robin only for 4 of them die at his hands would be a valuable intertwining thread.

It is not difficult to consider that Robin may have known not only about his daughter's prostitution but about the stories of police involvement. What ever his life had become by then he had loved his daughter, even if a line had been crossed that was unbecoming a 'holy man' -  who in one graphic and emotive misrepresentation by police was said to have been shot while kneeling in 'prayer.' Looking for other information that might support a police 'presence' in not wanting the investigation to take the expected course, of both Robin and David being investigated - it also can be found in evidence of a sort of 'distaste' for Margaret and her children. Doyle, I think it was, described the address at Every Street as a 'hovel', 'filthy' or other such descriptions. For supposedly 'dispassionate' police there seemed to be a effort to paint Margaret and her family as lesser people for some reason, a signal, whether deliberate or not, which led supporters of the late Robin Bain to 'speak' about Margaret, her obvious poor mental state of the time, her house, and her 'plans' with disgust.

Ironically, on that point alone - looking at the photos, the house didn't compare unfavourably with any busy household that had several teenagers among it's numbers. We know that David did the washing daily, worked and studied, as did another daughter, Arawa part time, as her studies continued. Looking a little further in, there was an 'incident' in the period leading up to the tragedy when Robin had to 'settle' with neighbours over something the youngest, Stephen, had done with a female's underwear. This showed part of the known character of Robin still intact, working to 'rebuild' his family. He also felt compelled to pay off some of Laniet's bills leading up to the murders, reminding me at least 1 American familicide where the father brought a 'new suit' before killing his family then himself. It could be said that Robin was under pressure in all quarters, those that have followed the case will have read about his personal hygiene deterioration in the months before his death and also know of his being past over for senior employment positions he had sought.

Of course the estrangement in the family finished in gunshots to some extent, although it lingers as a point of interest for the  tens of 1000s who have followed the case however remotely. Part of that interest is to determine what went wrong. There has been material written about the 'free' lifestyle that Robin and Margaret embraced when living in the islands at a time when the children were very young, having sex in front of the children and so forth. My view is that time may have been when the seeds of this tragedy were planted. McNeish in book hinted at this I am told, having never read the book, and concluded that this resulted in David killing his family. Now that science has proven that 'completion' of the theory incorrect, there is still little to say against the seedlings having indeed been planted in New Guinea and that the poison took hold of the mother and father's mind until his finally broke.