A man accused of beating a Canberra grandfather to death was suffering paranoid psychosis, and likely held a delusional belief that he needed to kill the man to protect himself or his family, says a psychiatrist.
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Danny Klobucar, 27, is on trial in the ACT Supreme Court for the alleged murder of Miodrag Gajic, 71, who was bashed to death at his Phillip unit on New Year's Day in 2014.
Mr Klobucar allegedly went to buy cannabis from Mr Gajic on December 30, and noticed the deceased's Nissan Micra, remarking that it looked like a "gay" car, and that the owner was probably a paedophile who may have a DVD of him.
It is alleged he went back to the Mansfield Place unit on New Year's Day, attacked Mr Gajic at the front door and inflicted fatal blunt force trauma.
He is accused of dragging the body back into the hallway and leaving a bloody footprint, before taking Mr Gajic's phone.
Mr Klobucar denies killing Mr Gajic, saying he was already dead when he got to the unit.
He is also relying on a defence of mental impairment, and his mother has already given evidence of his deteriorating state of mind in the month before the killing.
The first psychiatrist to give evidence in the case, Professor David Greenberg, told the court on Monday that he believed Mr Klobucar was likely suffering paranoid schizophrenia and experiencing a psychotic episode at the time.
Professor Greenberg said it was likely that Mr Gajic had been incorporated in to Mr Klobucar's delusional thought process.
The court has heard Mr Klobucar believed he was an undercover police agent, responsible for uncovering paedophile rings, and he tended to be suspicious of older men, becoming aggressive or violent towards them.
Professor Greenberg said he did not believe Mr Klobucar was capable of distinguishing right from wrong, in a moral sense, and said he believed a defence of mental impairment was open to the accused.
Mr Klobucar, he said, would likely have known that killing someone was legally wrong, but he probably believed it was justified because he needed to protect himself or his family from harm.
"He's lost touch with reality. He can't distinguish between right and wrong in a moral sense," he said.
"He may know something is legally wrong, but he feels justified because he is in such danger that he has to protect himself or protect his loved ones."
Mr Klobucar spent a significant amount of time in Canberra Hospital's mental health unit following his arrest.
The court heard he dismissed suggestions that he had a mental illness.
In cross-examination, prosecutor Mark Fernandez questioned Professor Greenberg about the limitations of his assessment of Mr Klobucar.
The witness conceded he had not been able to personally assess Mr Klobucar, but said he had relied on a wealth of information from other psychiatrists and the Canberra Hospital, as well as the relevant trial evidence.
He also agreed that there was no direct evidence as to the accused's state of mind at the time of the killing, only at points before and after.
That's because Mr Klobucar has rejected allegations he killed the man, and given an exculpatory account of what happened.
But Professor Greenberg said there was clear evidence of mental impairment and a pattern of behaviour associated with Mr Klobucar's deluded thinking.
"Mental illness doesn't come and go minute by minute," he said.
"It doesn't change over minutes or days, It will stay for weeks, sometimes for months, sometimes for years."
The trial continues before Justice Hilary Penfold on Tuesday.
