The fight to stop David Bain receiving compensation for his years spent in jail is heating up with the launch of a petition.
The online petition has been organised by supporters of Robin Bain, Mr Bain's father, who also plan to run advertisements in newspapers calling for people to sign up.
The petition calls on Justice Minister Simon Power to deny Mr Bain's application for compensation for the time he spent in prison after being convicted in 1995 of the murders of five members of his family in Dunedin.
By 7pm yesterday, more than 750 people had signed the petition.
Mr Bain's legal team is preparing an application for compensation after he was acquitted in June, following a retrial, of killing his parents, Robin and Margaret, and three siblings, Arawa, Laniet and Stephen, at their Dunedin home in June 1994.
He spent 13 years in prison.
Theoretically, he could be eligible for about $1.3 million, as Cabinet guidelines state about $100,000 a year is available for people wrongfully imprisoned.
Mr Bain, who recently returned from a three-month European holiday, would have to prove on the balance of probabilities that he was innocent.
Petition organiser Vic Purkiss, of Tairua, said he and other Robin Bain supporters did not want to "go down without a fight".
"We don't want it [compensation] to just sneak through."
Mr Purkiss said the planned advertisements were carefully worded so as not to run foul of the law.
"We're not going to say he's guilty or not guilty."
David Bain supporter Joe Karam said his legal team was "right in the middle" of its application for compensation, which was time-consuming.
He said Mr Bain was staying with him and his partner for "a few weeks" at their Waikato property.
"He's been considering his options, looking into studying classics and drama, and thinking about different job opportunities."
