Potential jurors for the Lin family murder trial have been warned they will see “gruesome and graphic” evidence of the five killings and hear allegations of sexual abuse against a young woman.

Lian Bin ‘Robert’ Xie, 50, is accused of murdering five members of the Lin family in their North Epping home in Sydney in July 2009.

His alleged victims are the father Min ‘Norman’ Lin, his wife Yun Li ‘Lily’ Lin and her sister Yun Bin ‘Irene’ Yin.

Norman and Lily’s two young boys Henry Lin and Terry Lin were also killed.

Xie reiterated his pleas of not guilty to all five murders at the start of his Supreme Court trial on Monday.

Crown prosecutor Mark Tedeschi QC warned the potential jurors “there will be some very gruesome and graphic evidence of the injuries these five deceased people sustained”.

It will be necessary, he said, for them to be able to view photos of the bodies and the rooms the five were killed in.

During the trial they would also hear allegations of sexual assault in relation to a young female, Mr Tedeschi told them.

Justice Peter Johnson also warned the potential jurors the evidence during the trial would be graphic and had the “capacity to be disturbing and confronting”.

He told them the trial that began earlier this year did not proceed “very far” but had garnered a great deal of media attention.

During the trial, jurors were told they would hear evidence from a range of family members, forensic experts and a prison informer.

Due to the unusually long duration of the trial – which is expected to run for four months – there are 15 jury members as opposed to the normal 12.