The perfect family
David Bain wanted people to think he came from a perfect background. ‘‘The only thing I can reiterate is that these five members of my family were my life. They were part of who I was. We were extremely close. We all loved each other dearly.’’
That was Bain talking to Justice Ian Binnie in 2012 when the then 40-year-old was being interviewed about his bid for compensation for spending 13 years in jail.
Bain went on to say in the interview that the family was a ‘‘very tight group’’ and that ‘‘we all supported each other, we had good relations and we liked being in each other’s presence’’.
His comments to Binnie weren’t much different to what he said at his first trial in 1995, when he gave evidence in his own defence. He was then 23.
Bain testified that he had ‘‘wonderful’’ relationship with his mother and a ‘‘great’’ relationship with his father. He had a ‘‘very good friendship’’ with Stephen, ‘‘got on really well’’ with Laniet and had a ‘‘really close friendship with Arawa’’.
He more or less repeated the same narrative in 2012 at an innocence conference in Perth, where he and Joe Karam were the star attractions. He referred to his father as a role model, his mother as wise and a good friend. How does this compare with reality? Margaret Cullen and Robin Bain were married in 1972 in Dunedin. At the time of the shootings, the pair’s relationship was in tatters and Margaret wanted Robin to leave.
There was constant bickering and fighting. Margaret told an old acquaintance shortly before the murders that she would shoot Robin if she could.
Bain sided strongly with his mother and had told others only Laniet stuck up for her father. Robin had ‘‘got’’ Laniet, he said.
Evidence from both trials showed Bainshared his mother’s concerns and grievances about Robin. Margaret’s diaries show David often tried to please her and she tried to help him with hypnosis and clearing him of satanic influences.
When Bain looked back on their relationship in the Binnie interview, he said he had ‘‘the direct command’’ from his mother, putting him in opposition to his father.
Despite Bain’s earlier comments about his warm relationship with his father, he told others he hated him.
He regarded Robin as manipulative and sneaky and was upset about him ‘‘listening into conversations’’ that had ‘‘nothing to do with him’’. His father forced him into ‘‘guilt trips’’ and tried to ‘‘rule the roost’’.
Bain’s relationship with his sisters was also strange. Some of Laniet and Arawa’s friends said their brother was controlling and even threatening. Evidence showed he kept tight tabs on them.
One friend talked about his unusual relationship with Laniet. He was jealous of her relationships with other men and they sometimes seemed more like girlfriend and boyfriend. Arawa told a friend the family was worried about Bain having a rifle in the house.
Did the family really want to be together? Clearly, Robin and Laniet were living away from 65 Every St much of the time. Bain and Margaret were hoping to establish some sort of retreat or refuge which did not include Robin, and Laniet was hardly likely to return home.
Sometimes, Margaret talked about selling up and moving into a townhouse with Stephen.
Arawa, who was very loyal to her family, was talking about going flatting with some friends and was sick of her mother taking her anger out on her. Bain said she didn’t get on with Robin.
Despite talking about his family as a loving and close unit, he also agreed it was dysfunctional.
Binnie questioned the contradiction between Bain’s depiction of the relationship with his father and the reality.
Bain explained: ‘‘Isn’t that exactly what you would try and portray to the world? That you come from a perfect environment?’’