If this were the hand of David Bain instead of his father, Robin.

http://i.imgur.com/2CPr9Hi.jpg

 

Click on the above for a photo of the deceased Robin Bain's hand. If you look at the enlarged copy you will see what is most likely blood wash in the large creases of his palm. This material to my knowledge was never tested, said to have been too small amount. Of course we can go elsewhere for confirmation - the fresh blood found on a towel in the laundry the morning of the Bain family murders. Blood which for many years was assumed (how dreadfully tragic that in a murder case, assumptions are made on items which are capable of being sources of hard evidence) to have been David's blood but which finally on being tested was found to belong to his father Robin. The blood was fresh and the laundry in the household was done daily. Even putting aside the possibility of Robin's nose bleed the morning of the murders and the cuts to his hands there was blood found on the laundry towel, fair assessment that the red material found under Robin's nails by the forensic team and that shown as visible in the creases of his hands was as the result of him having washed or wiped his hands either directly following the killings or before turning the computer on. I am unaware if, and how finely examined, the computer key board and switches were examined, they may not have been more that superficially screened because by then the focus was on the message left on the computer. Would there be any surprise that the computer had not been tested for blood or observed closely for a colour matching that found on Robin's palms. The answer is no when we reflect on police failing to test the towel in the laundry for over a decade and in fact throwing out blood samples taken from Robin's trousers but keeping the trousers.

 

However, what is clear is that Robin washed or wiped his hands before his death. As any fisherman or fisherwoman knows blood is hard to remove even without the pressure of pending discovery. With all other factors taken into account, including of course other blood found on Robin's hands in particular, it is safe to say that the creases more than likely held blood wash - significant by any degree. But what the photo also shows, rather dramatically in fact, just above the forefinger, is on the BOP gunshot residue. Again this was never tested. Followers of the case know that Robin's hands were not 'bagged' in order to be later tested for GSR. Many will also know that GSR unlike blood is entirely fragile and deteriorating from its form soon after in conception.

 

Going back to the towel and the blood wash found on Robin's palms (let's be generous for a moment and call that blood wash dirt - as the sisters so often plaintively cry, to do this we have to ignore is colour and corroborating evidence in order to bring the gsr to its most simple helpful exposure,) after Robin had washed his hands, or simply wiped them on a towel leaving creases of blood (or dirt) something fragile and which would disappear in hours presents itself in this photo. If it was gsr it would soon be gone, if it was dirt or grease of some other durable material it would have been seen and hopefully recorded in notes even hours after the crime discovery when Dr Dempster was 'allowed' to examine the crime scene, having been kept outside for hours police despite being the most experienced forensic examiner in Dunedin. But it was in fact gone or left undiscovered until I understand quite recently in photos taken on the day of the murders. Some readers will also recall that Dr Dempster when reviewing the file prior to the retrial found photos that showed further blood wash on Robin's palms and released them to both the Crown and the defence. Plainly, this is Robin's right hand, that which would have been used in loading the rifle or removing the magazine with the jammed round stuck above the spring lift.

 

I imagine this photo along with others, and possibly that indicating Robin had a nose bleed that morning exhibited by a red substance showing in his moustache and a blood trail across his chin that did not appear possible to have come from his temple, will form a valuable part of the reconstituted petition by David Bain for compensation for false imprisonment. As the Bain case has continued the evidence against Robin has continued to grow, even though it could be argued that the above photo was enough to prove he was the perpetrator. In the continued search for hard evidence against David before his retrial there were something like 27 detectives employed full time to find that hard evidence and failed. What they needed was evidence such as this photo but of course this photo is of the hand of the real culprit, the man who fired the gun and not the son.