The case for and against Robert Xie

KEY POINTS IN ROBERT XIE'S MURDER TRIAL

THE CRIME

On July 18, 2009, the bloodied bodies of news agent Min Lin and his wife Lily were found in their North Epping home, along with the bodies of Lily's sister Irene, and the couple's children Henry, 12, and Terry, nine. Min Lin's brother-in-law Robert Xie was arrested in relation to the murders in May 2011.

WHAT THE CROWN SAID:

* One person, in the dark, murdered the Lin family at their North Epping home in Sydney's northwest, in the early hours of July 18, 2009

* Xie had access to a key

* No evidence of lock tampering at the Lin home

* Manner of Min and Lily Lin's deaths indicate "intense bitterness and hatred"

* Bloodied shoe prints in Lin home consistent with Asics sneakers Xie wore

* On May 6, 2010, Xie cuts up shoe boxes, showing "consciousness of guilt"

* Small "bloodstain" on Xie's garage floor "most likely" contains DNA of four Lin family victims

* Xie made "implied admissions" to prison informant, `Witness A', at Long Bay jail

WHAT THE DEFENCE SAID:

* It wasn't one person in the dark

* Time of death is unknown

* Shoe prints inside the home point to five possible sizes

* Xie had no financial motive for killing the Lin family

* Murders show not hatred but a "cold-blooded slaughter"

* If Xie was driven by hatred towards Min and Lily, why kill them when everyone is at home?

* Disputes DNA evidence and the crown assertion the stain on Xie's garage floor is blood

* Says `Witness A' is a "ruthless prison informer"

* Xie never admitted to `Witness A' he was the killer