An alleged murderer who thought he heard God, Jesus and Satan and was told by a demon to attack a Crown prosecutor was "too unwell" to sit through his trial, a court has heard.
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A Brisbane Supreme Court jury originally tasked with deciding whether or not Alex Reuben McEwan murdered Eunji Ban in November 2013 was on Wednesday told to determine whether the accused was "of sufficiently sound mind" for the trial to continue.
Mr McEwan has admitted to killing Ms Ban in the early hours of November 24, 2013, but pleaded not guilty to murder, his barrister raising the defence of insanity.
It was alleged he had gone out "looking to kill someone", something he told police he had been "waiting" to do his whole life.
On Wednesday, the court heard Mr McEwan had punched himself in the head "a couple of times" on Tuesday morning after receiving a command while in the courthouse from a "demon" called "Jazzy" to attack the Crown prosecutor.
"When Jazzy was telling him that, he decided that instead of harming anyone else he would punch his face," experienced forensic psychiatrist Dr Donald Grant told the court.
"And he was quite tender when I saw him, around the eyebrows."
Dr Grant told the jury Mr McEwan had treatment-resistant schizophrenia and he believed the 23-year-old would have trouble following what was happening in the trial and it was "very doubtful" he could give coherent evidence over time.
"I think that stress and the distraction from his hallucinations would become overwhelming and I think it would be very likely that he would break down and not be able to continue," he said.
The court heard "Jazzy" was a central figure in the hallucinations but they also included a female demon called "Dren" and the voices of God, Jesus, Satan and the defendant's friends laughing at him.
"It's rare to get visual hallucinations of this severity," Dr Grant said, describing Mr McEwan's condition as a "very severe illness", which had been that way for a long time.
"Unfortunately it's what we now call treatment-resistant schizophrenia, that's not responding to the usual treatments."
Since Ms Ban's death, Mr McEwan had twice attacked people because of the demons, once in hospital and once in prison, the court heard.
The defendant was moved out of an open dock and into a glass-walled one on Wednesday after the court first heard of the "commands" to attack the prosecutor.
The jury has been directed to decide whether the defendant is of "of sufficiently sound mind so as to be fit for trial."
In this "trial within a trial", jurors were directed to consider his current mental health, rather than his condition when Ms Ban was killed.
They were told if the defendant was unfit, the trial would end but the law would allow for the matter to be determined at a later date.
Both his treating psychiatrist, Dr Julian Dodemaide, and independent medical professional Dr Grant were quizzed on Wednesday afternoon about whether Mr McEwan could follow the trial, give evidence, and a range of other factors.
Dr Grant said he had considered whether the defendant was making up the symptoms to avoid trial.
"I believe that they are real symptoms and I do believe he wants to get this trial over so that he knows for certain what his situation is and he can try to get on with things," Dr Grant said.
The psychiatrist said he believed Mr McEwan wanted to "push through this" but "in my opinion he can't because he's too unwell at the moment".
The trial continues on Thursday.
