David Eastman told a Canberra couple who were also in dispute with the public service that he could "get a gun and kill someone", his murder trial heard Wednesday.
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In the 1980s, Phillip Bewley did an interview with the ABC about his own fight with the Commissioner of Superannuation over entitlements and was shortly after contacted by Mr Eastman.
The court has heard Mr Eastman, 72, was locked in his own 10-year battle to return to work.
Prosecutors have pointed to Mr Eastman's desire to return and perceived injustices committed against him by the public service and police as part of his motive for allegedly killing police chief Colin Winchester.
Mr Winchester, then the Australian Federal Police Assistant Commissioner, was shot twice in the head while sitting in his car in his neighbour's Deakin driveway on January 10, 1989.
Mr Eastman has pleaded not guilty to murder.
The trial, on its seventh day, heard that the Bewleys arranged to meet with Mr Eastman at their home after taking his call.
Theresa Bewley told the jury that at the meeting, Mr Eastman was angry things weren't working out for him, and said words along the lines of that he could "go get a gun and kill someone".
She agreed under questioning from Mr Eastman's defence barrister George Georgiou SC that she could not recall the exact words Mr Eastman said.
She said it was possible Mr Eastman said he sometimes got so angry he could "shoot" someone.
Mr Bewley told the ACT Supreme Court trial that he too recalled Mr Eastman saying he was so frustrated that "perhaps he could get a gun and kill someone".
Mr Bewley expressed difficulty remembering the events some thirty years ago, saying that he gave police statements at the time honestly but "asking me to recall precise details now is very difficult".
But when questioned by Mr Georgiou on whether Mr Eastman could have said that sometimes he got "so frustrated he could kill someone", Mr Bewley disagreed.
He said if the barrister was suggesting Mr Eastman did not say the word "gun" he did not accept that.
"That was the thing that actually shocked me at the time," he said.
He said Mr Eastman was agitated, unhappy and annoyed during the meeting.
Acting Justice Murray Kellam told the jury the Crown lead evidence of what Mr Eastman said to the Bewleys and others, including penfriend Irene Finke, only as proof of Mr Eastman's state of mind at the time.
He said the evidence went to the Crown case around motive, that is Mr Eastman's frustrations with police and the public service and the "level of intense anger" for the perceived injustices committed against him.
Justice Kellam told the jury that the law said they must only use that evidence for that reason, and not use it to consider that Mr Eastman was the type of person who would commit the crime of murder.
Mr Winchester's former secretary was also called to give evidence, telling the court about the time Mr Eastman met with the police chief and the ACT shadow attorney-general Neil Brown in December 1988.
The court has heard Mr Eastman was appealing to Mr Winchester to reinvestigate the case and withdraw the assault charge against him.
She said when the meeting ended, Mr Winchester attempted to shake Mr Eastman's hand.
The former secretary told the court that Mr Eastman refused, saying "I won't shake your hand until you fix it".
She said he appeared angry.
In a note about the incident, Mr Winchester described Mr Eastman as "belligerent", the court heard.
The trial continues.
