The turn on time of the Bain computer was a critical part of the Bain trial.

The prosecution said that David came home from his paper run at around 6.43, turned on the computer and typed a fake suicide note in an effort to frame his father, the note read “Sorry you are the only one who deserved to stay” The defenses position was that David was not home when the computer was turned on, therefore the father was the killer of the family and the author of the suicide note.

David in his statement to the police said that he was at the corner of Heath and Every street at 6.40 am. Later he also said in another statement to police that he was home just after 6.40.  A key witness, Denise Lahey, stated that she saw David at the entrance to his driveway at sometime between 6.40 and 6.45.

The computer experts at trial in 2009 could not determine the precise turn on time of the machine because of the age of the computer but it was stated that it could have been any time from 6.40 to 6.45, with the most likely time of 6.43 so this timing enables David to be able to turn on the computer.

Joe Karam would like to think that Denise Lahey confirmed that she saw David at the gateway at 6.45 but Denise Laney maintains that she can only put the timing as anywhere between 6.40 and 6.45 and since she normally started work at 6.45 it is more likely to be closer to 6.40 that she saw him.

Relying on different people's interpretation of the time using wristwatches and other devices which are not synchronized with each other is a very unreliable way to establish evidence.  Joe Karam's assertion that David could not have typed the computer message hinges on both the key witness's interpretation of the time and the interpretation of when the computer was switched on, both of which are extremely unreliable.