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The mask of sanity: The Bain murders
282 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1997
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
July 29, 2017
I'm an expatriate Kiwi who just missed out on the whole controversy of the Bain murders when they happened because I was out of the country and didn't follow the news there at the time. However, with the reappearance of David Bain in the news with his acquittal, I took a keen interest in the case—and perhaps at the right time, now that it can be reviewed with almost two decades of hindsight.
My main motivation was to try and account for the gaping chasm between the image of David Bain and the verdict that he murdered his family. David Bain's unblinking, sustained assertion of innocence over the years and the total lack of anything in his public demeanor that suggests criminality make for a compelling riddle in the face of evidence I gathered over a couple of weeks of internet searching that seems to point the finger directly at him.
I started on this book rather than a Joe Karam book because the author promised the more impartial account, he having sat through the original trial and established his credentials by way of his other writings as an "outsider" who writes to discover, rather than someone who writes to prove what he has already committed to.
The author's primary aim is to establish a motive for these crimes. The Bain case is unique in that there was no clear motive for the murders, which makes it far more interesting than other murders, but also a lot more difficult to tackle. James McNeish writes like the novelist he often is in describing the Bain family and, from there, trying to fathom the crimes. The narrative of the family, the trial and his following of it, and his encounters with people key to reconstructing the story moves adeptly back and forward in time, panning between background to the case, scenes from the trial, and accounts of his own investigative mission. The author’s wide, erudite drawing on novels and myth further illuminate the tale. Never a dull moment.
His assumption that dysfunction in the Bain family led to the murders is the only rational one available, and trying to rationally prove that link forms the kernel of this book. But what a challenge! The author roved far and wide to contact people who knew the Bains—crucially, to Papua New Guinea where the family spent 16 years. The accounts are honestly conveyed—and I say "honestly" for a reason, because it proves impossible to paint a completely consistent picture of the family when viewed through multiple people's eyes.
That is to say, I often wondered while reading the book how I would fare if subject to a similar exercise. I am fully aware of how different I must appear to different people depending on the kind of relationship I have with them, and when and how often I meet them (on my good or bad days, weeks, months, or even years). However, the inconsistencies revealed in differing impressions of Bain family members, or the family as a whole, are lesser in force than the consensus they form. Rather than being weaknesses, they ring true, attesting to the difficulty of trying to account for extreme human behavior—a difficulty that the author readily lets show.
Solid and credible an account as it is, it doesn't advertise itself as being anything beyond (very well informed) speculation, and the author doesn't try to hard-sell the reader any particular answer. It proposes most-likely psychological scenarios.
Among the various possibilities discussed towards the end, Papua New Guinean sorcery makes an appearance, but the superstitious theme of “possession” invoked by McNeish fails in my mind to make the leap to credible, logical reasons. A simple, alternative explanation of the author’s—almost thrown out there for want of something better—is just as compelling: that David Bain was fundamentally pissed off with everyone in his family. The probability of such a banal explanation is one the author acknowledges almost from the beginning, and at times it threatens to undermine the book with bathos that simply can't be helped.
At the end of the day, this is not a novel, it is a conscientiously written and argued case study, therefore subject to the limitations of what can and can't be established. But we're dealing here with a realm where the word "establish" doesn't cope. I wouldn't be surprised if, were David to ever confess (or a definitive suicide note by Robin be unearthed), this book would still make the worthier, and perhaps the more credible, read.
My main motivation was to try and account for the gaping chasm between the image of David Bain and the verdict that he murdered his family. David Bain's unblinking, sustained assertion of innocence over the years and the total lack of anything in his public demeanor that suggests criminality make for a compelling riddle in the face of evidence I gathered over a couple of weeks of internet searching that seems to point the finger directly at him.
I started on this book rather than a Joe Karam book because the author promised the more impartial account, he having sat through the original trial and established his credentials by way of his other writings as an "outsider" who writes to discover, rather than someone who writes to prove what he has already committed to.
The author's primary aim is to establish a motive for these crimes. The Bain case is unique in that there was no clear motive for the murders, which makes it far more interesting than other murders, but also a lot more difficult to tackle. James McNeish writes like the novelist he often is in describing the Bain family and, from there, trying to fathom the crimes. The narrative of the family, the trial and his following of it, and his encounters with people key to reconstructing the story moves adeptly back and forward in time, panning between background to the case, scenes from the trial, and accounts of his own investigative mission. The author’s wide, erudite drawing on novels and myth further illuminate the tale. Never a dull moment.
His assumption that dysfunction in the Bain family led to the murders is the only rational one available, and trying to rationally prove that link forms the kernel of this book. But what a challenge! The author roved far and wide to contact people who knew the Bains—crucially, to Papua New Guinea where the family spent 16 years. The accounts are honestly conveyed—and I say "honestly" for a reason, because it proves impossible to paint a completely consistent picture of the family when viewed through multiple people's eyes.
That is to say, I often wondered while reading the book how I would fare if subject to a similar exercise. I am fully aware of how different I must appear to different people depending on the kind of relationship I have with them, and when and how often I meet them (on my good or bad days, weeks, months, or even years). However, the inconsistencies revealed in differing impressions of Bain family members, or the family as a whole, are lesser in force than the consensus they form. Rather than being weaknesses, they ring true, attesting to the difficulty of trying to account for extreme human behavior—a difficulty that the author readily lets show.
Solid and credible an account as it is, it doesn't advertise itself as being anything beyond (very well informed) speculation, and the author doesn't try to hard-sell the reader any particular answer. It proposes most-likely psychological scenarios.
Among the various possibilities discussed towards the end, Papua New Guinean sorcery makes an appearance, but the superstitious theme of “possession” invoked by McNeish fails in my mind to make the leap to credible, logical reasons. A simple, alternative explanation of the author’s—almost thrown out there for want of something better—is just as compelling: that David Bain was fundamentally pissed off with everyone in his family. The probability of such a banal explanation is one the author acknowledges almost from the beginning, and at times it threatens to undermine the book with bathos that simply can't be helped.
At the end of the day, this is not a novel, it is a conscientiously written and argued case study, therefore subject to the limitations of what can and can't be established. But we're dealing here with a realm where the word "establish" doesn't cope. I wouldn't be surprised if, were David to ever confess (or a definitive suicide note by Robin be unearthed), this book would still make the worthier, and perhaps the more credible, read.
January 28, 2013
Every New Zealander who thinks David Bain is innocent should read this book
January 10, 2021
I want to read the new book about the Bain murders so I’ve gone back to read some earlier books on the murders as prep. Like a good social scientist, I’ve read book the present different perspectives and conclusions about this controversial case. For this reader, I found McNeish’s conclusions logically reasoned and convincing. However, the mystery of this case is there are always gaps, that are difficult to conclusively explain. A very interesting read from a reporter who analysed the case as it happened.
April 25, 2015
A good read, nicely balanced, well researched. I'm shocked that he was found not guilty (15 years after this account was published).
April 18, 2021
One of the great New Zealand true-crime books, up there with Lynley Hood's "Minnie Dean", Angus Gillies' "Ngati Dread" trilogy, and McNeish's previous "The Mackenzie Affair".
The Bain Family murders are a subject of ongoing interest and controversy in New Zealand. David Bain, convicted in 1995 for killing his parents and three siblings, was later released on appeal after intense advocacy by supporters (notably ex-All Black Joe Karam). A second trial found him not guilty. Later Crown investigations undertaken to determine the question of compensation were also divided over his likely guilt.
McNeish's book was written only a few years after the first trial and benefits from his having been in the courtroom, also carrying out 80 extra interviews and accessing important primary documents, namely the diary of Margaret Bain, the mother. McNeish is a well-read and thoughtful commentator, unafraid to venture into difficult religious and philosophical territory - and a great wordsmith.
The first part of the book cuts between the trial, the investigation and the family back-story; the second undertakes to explain why the murders occurred. As he notes, "Paradox and contradictions were a feature of the trial. The confusion of thought they generated is reflected in this book and in the responses to David Bain's observed behaviour before and during the trial, especially in relation to the funeral. It is no wonder so many commentators remain at odds." (p.193) Nonetheless, McNeish makes a convincing case for the likelihood of Bain's guilt and paints a vivid picture of the family psychodynamics which produced the murders.
While acknowledging that motive remains mysterious and unknowable, the author believes that the solution to the mystery lies in the family's 16 years spent in Papua New Guinea, where the parents were Christian missionaries involved in education. Reveling in a lifestyle influenced by hippy, 'New Age' ideas, here, according to McNeish, "Margaret Bain's moral and religious compass is knocked sideways by her encounters with witchcraft and the paranormal." (p.204)
I won't spoil how McNeish narrates the ensuing corruption of the family relationships, but it's gripping and chilling stuff. Partly this is because, I suppose, all families can look a bit like "secret societies" from the outside, with their own codes and special knowledge hidden from others.
If McNeish is right, it's interesting to think that Margaret Bain's powerful delusions ended up contaminating not only her family but broader New Zealand society, in terms of the campaign to free David Bain. The campaign had its own semi-religious, missionary quality: one certainly could never doubt the sincerity of his "true believer" supporters. The campaign was partly spurred by Bain's consistent protestations of innocence and seeming lack of guile: he avoided pinning blame on the only other possible suspect (Robin Bain, his father), and maintained that his family was not unusual. But as McNeish puts it, this demeanor masked a telling lack of normal emotional responses. It projected the self-belief of martyr and "chosen one": the role in which his mother cast him and he was apparently born to play.
The Bain Family murders are a subject of ongoing interest and controversy in New Zealand. David Bain, convicted in 1995 for killing his parents and three siblings, was later released on appeal after intense advocacy by supporters (notably ex-All Black Joe Karam). A second trial found him not guilty. Later Crown investigations undertaken to determine the question of compensation were also divided over his likely guilt.
McNeish's book was written only a few years after the first trial and benefits from his having been in the courtroom, also carrying out 80 extra interviews and accessing important primary documents, namely the diary of Margaret Bain, the mother. McNeish is a well-read and thoughtful commentator, unafraid to venture into difficult religious and philosophical territory - and a great wordsmith.
The first part of the book cuts between the trial, the investigation and the family back-story; the second undertakes to explain why the murders occurred. As he notes, "Paradox and contradictions were a feature of the trial. The confusion of thought they generated is reflected in this book and in the responses to David Bain's observed behaviour before and during the trial, especially in relation to the funeral. It is no wonder so many commentators remain at odds." (p.193) Nonetheless, McNeish makes a convincing case for the likelihood of Bain's guilt and paints a vivid picture of the family psychodynamics which produced the murders.
While acknowledging that motive remains mysterious and unknowable, the author believes that the solution to the mystery lies in the family's 16 years spent in Papua New Guinea, where the parents were Christian missionaries involved in education. Reveling in a lifestyle influenced by hippy, 'New Age' ideas, here, according to McNeish, "Margaret Bain's moral and religious compass is knocked sideways by her encounters with witchcraft and the paranormal." (p.204)
I won't spoil how McNeish narrates the ensuing corruption of the family relationships, but it's gripping and chilling stuff. Partly this is because, I suppose, all families can look a bit like "secret societies" from the outside, with their own codes and special knowledge hidden from others.
If McNeish is right, it's interesting to think that Margaret Bain's powerful delusions ended up contaminating not only her family but broader New Zealand society, in terms of the campaign to free David Bain. The campaign had its own semi-religious, missionary quality: one certainly could never doubt the sincerity of his "true believer" supporters. The campaign was partly spurred by Bain's consistent protestations of innocence and seeming lack of guile: he avoided pinning blame on the only other possible suspect (Robin Bain, his father), and maintained that his family was not unusual. But as McNeish puts it, this demeanor masked a telling lack of normal emotional responses. It projected the self-belief of martyr and "chosen one": the role in which his mother cast him and he was apparently born to play.
September 24, 2017
This book tends to jump a little to lay a background for a family while following the trial (and the authors dealings). You can tell it's written by a man as Margaret Bain is unnecessarily described as "full-breasted". Part way through reading I listed to the Black Hands podcast series, both are very detailed and agree on the guilt of David Bain.
August 6, 2021
Such an interesting look at behind the scenes into the cult of the Bain family and why finally “everyone had to die” and the explanation for who wrote “sorry you are the only one who deserved to stay “. Everyone who thinks David Bain is innocent should read this book!
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April 29, 2024The saddest thing for innocent people finally exonerated after excrutiating years in prison is that this nonsense will keep going around and around. He has suffered more than enough for his father's deeds. Leave the poor man alone.
October 30, 2014
did he do it or not? a good read.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews