David Bain appeared calm as he returned to court yesterday to be retried for the 1994 murders of five of his family.
Dressed in a dark suit, white shirt and dark tie, he smiled as he moved through the large group of media waiting for his arrival outside the Christchurch courthouse.
In the courtroom where the jury was selected to hear his trial, Bain stood alone in the dock although long-time campaigner and friend Joe Karam was close by.
Another member of the Karam family, lawyer Matthew Karam, was also present as a fourth member of the Bain defence legal team.
When asked to plead to the five murder charges, Bain five times replied not guilty in a deep, clear voice.
Of the 20 jurors called, the defence challenged three and the Crown two.
Three others were excused before 12 were chosen and sworn in to hear what is probably this country's most controversial murder case.
Bain served 12 years of a life sentence with a 16-year non-parole term, before being freed in 2007 after the Privy Council found there should be a new trial.
The intense media interest in the case was clear.
More than 20 media representatives are occupying all the public gallery space in the courtroom where the trial will be heard during the next 12 weeks.
Bain is seated just in front of the media, with a prison officer on one side and Matthew Karam on the other.
In line with Justice Panckhurst's ruling on Thursday, only one television camera is in the court to film the hearing, and one camera to take still photographs.
