David Bain's former girlfriend has told the jury in the High Court at Christchurch about her conversation with Mr Bain the day after five members of his family died.
Mr Bain is on trial for the murders.
The woman has name suppression, but Justice Panckhurst made the unusual restriction of preventing the media from filming her or recording her voice.
She told the court she went to see Mr Bain at his uncle's home on the night after the killings. She said he was very upset.
He asked her to stand beside him at the funeral, and said she would have to be strong.
At this point during her testimony, the woman became upset. She went on to say that she felt Mr Bain was very traumatised.
The jury also heard that one of Mr Bain's closest friends, who has name suppression, saw scratches on his chest a few nights after the deaths of his parents and siblings.
Mr Bain's retrial resumed on Tuesday after a day of legal argument.
Mr Bain is on trial for the murder of his parents Robin and Margaret, sisters Laniet and Arawa and brother Stephen, at the family home in Dunedin on 20 June 1994.
He denies the charges and says his father was the real killer, who then turned the .22 Winchester rifle on himself.
Mr Bain was convicted of the murders in 1995, but in 2007 the Privy Council quashed the convictions. A retrial was subsequently ordered.
The retrial is into its eighth week before a jury of seven women and five men.
