- Danny Klobucar goes on trial for alleged murder of Miodrag Gajic in Woden
- Victim had many visitors, carried weapons for self-defence
- Mother begged police to help her son before alleged murder
- Chemical agent reveals bloody shoe prints, drag marks at murder scene
- Blood splatters indicate murder victim's injuries inflicted with 'solid, heavy' instrument
The uncle of accused killer Danny Klobucar noticed a dark smudge he thought looked like blood on his nephew's shoe the same day he allegedly bashed a Canberra grandfather to death, a court has heard.
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Anthony Klobucar also told a court his nephew appeared "scattered, agitated, restless", and had claimed he was helping police with a major operation to nab paedophiles, when he saw him late on New Year's Day in 2014.
Danny Klobucar, 27, pleaded not guilty to murdering Miodrag Gajic, 71, at the front door to his Phillip unit, and his ACT Supreme Court trial has entered its third week.
The Crown alleges Mr Klobucar met Mr Gajic for the first time on December 30 when he visited the Mansfield Place unit in an attempt to buy cannabis.
He is then alleged to have returned a couple of days later to kill Mr Gajic before he dragged his body back into the hallway, took his phone, and left a bloody footprint at the scene.
Mr Klobucar had allegedly become convinced Mr Gajic was a paedophile and the trial has heard evidence his mental state had deteriorated in the months leading up to the killing.
His legal team, led by John Purnell, SC, and Ray Livingston, is relying on a defence of mental impairment, in the event that the jury finds Mr Klobucar guilty.
On Thursday, Anthony Klobucar, who spent time with the accused at his father's Chapman house the night of January 1, said he had been happy to see his nephew "but not in the state he was in".
He told the court the defendant had grown increasingly aggressive as he drank beer and the Croatian spirit rakija – which Mr Klobucar said was akin to "rocket fuel" –with his grandfather.
"I could see clearly he was not well," Anthony Klobucar said.
"He was very scattered, agitated, restless and his speech was slurred. He was rambling when he was talking.
"I was sitting on the couch and just watching the insanity before me."
He recalled noticing a dark smudge about an inch long, which he said he thought looked like blood, on one of his nephew's white shoes.
Mr Klobucar said his nephew had spoken that night about videotapes of people being brutally bashed and raped, and claimed he was working with police on a major operation focused on a paedophile ring.
"According to Danny, the impression I got, he was very serious about it all," Mr Klobucar said.
"It's very difficult for me to describe because it was such a shock for me."
Under cross-examination from Mr Purnell, SC, Mr Klobucar agreed his nephew's behaviour that night seemed irrational, abnormal and crazy and he thought he was in need of professional help.
Mr Klobucar told the court he believed Danny Klobucar was ill with what appeared to be "a mental thing".
The trial, before Justice Hilary Penfold, continues.
