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Warning: Distressing content
A Dunedin man beat his victim to death with a golf club, believing he was auditioning for a role as a killer for the Secret Service, a court has heard.
The defendant, aged in his 30s, appeared before the High Court at Dunedin this morning where Justice Owen Paulsen found him not guilty of the murder of Douglas Alexander Senior by reason of insanity.
The judge said the man was aware of the nature of his actions when he killed Mr Senior in the suburb of Andersons Bay on May 22 but concluded he was operating under a delusional belief, unaware his actions were morally wrong.
In the days leading up to the killing, mental-health services had been contacted about the defendant, who had a history of schizophrenia dating back to 2011.
The victim had also called the police non-emergency hotline to report the man had been threatening and aggressive towards him, and was "heavily" using illicit drugs.
He described the man as a "time bomb waiting to explode".
The day before Mr Senior's death, police and mental-health staff visited the defendant, who told them he was "fine" and no longer using substances.
He was not taking his medication because he did not need it, he claimed.
His dispute with the victim had been settled.
Within hours, though, Mr Senior was found in a pool of blood by the defendant's mother, under a blue tarpaulin in his front yard.
When she spoke to her son he told her: "someone had to do it."
Medics who were first on the scene noted a golf-club handle, dumb-bell weight and a bloody plastic bag by the victim's body.
CCTV shed light on what had happened.
Mr Senior was captured working under the bonnet of a vehicle at 11.35am.
Four minutes later, another man can be seen in the reflection of a window, repeatedly striking the victim with a golf club.
The footage showed the defendant going back and forth from the scene several times, at one point carrying a black rubbish bag.
The killer's bloodied clothing and shoes were later found in a bin at the property.
When police arrived at the house, the defendant was candid, admitting he was responsible for Mr Senior's death.
He made further admissions while being transported to the station, the court heard.
The defendant described using the golf club until it snapped and having to use two bags to prevent Mr Senior breathing because the first had broken.
He later told a doctor who was examining him that the killing had been part of an "audition" to become a "killer for the Secret Service".
The defendant said he "saw the opportunity to take him out without much hassle"
A post mortem found Mr Senior suffered a fractured skull and brain injury as a result of the attack.
There were "widespread facial injuries" and an 8cm puncture wound to the man's back.
The pathologist concluded Mr Senior's death was caused by the combined effects of blunt-force head injury and smothering.
The blow to the victim's skull likely caused immediate unconsciousness but was not necessarily fatal alone, he said.
Psychiatrists who assessed the defendant found his mental condition improved after taking medication during the months after his arrest, to the point where he was technically fit to stand trial.
But they were unanimous that he was suffering a "disease of the mind" at the time of the attack.
In February, after consideration of further reports, Justice Paulsen will decide how to deal with the defendant under the Criminal Procedure (Mentally Impaired Persons) Act.