Accused murder told police he was troubled by a demon

The man accused of murdering Korean woman Eunji Ban almost four years ago told police he was troubled by a ‘demon’ and ‘felt like he was possessed’, a court has heard.

Alex Reuben McEwan, 23, pleaded not guilty to Ms Ban’s murder as his Brisbane Supreme Court trial began on Monday morning.

His barrister, John Allen QC, later made a formal admission that his client caused her death on November 24, 2013.

A forensic pathologist would tell the trial Ms Ban died from ‘significant facial injuries’ as a result of separate ‘blunt impacts’, the court heard

But he said the trial was necessary to determine his mental state at the time and whether or not relevant legal defences applied.

He briefly alluded to evidence of Mr McEwan telling detectives he ‘felt like he was possessed’ and having been plagued by ‘a demon’.

Mr Allen said important evidence on these issues would not be heard in the prosecution case and urged jurors to keep an open mind.

The parents of murdered Korean student Eunji Ban outside the Supreme Court in Brisbane

It came after crown prosecutor David Meredith said the 22-year-old woman was walking from her unit near the Roma Street Parkland to a shift as an overnight hotel cleaner at about 4am.

‘Unfortunately, her path crossed that of the accused, Alex McEwan, who later told friends and police that he’d gone out looking to kill someone,’ he said.

The jury heard a casino worker spotted what looked like a young man ‘dragging’ something upstairs at Wickham Park before discovering Ms Ban’s body and calling triple-zero shortly before 5am.

A forensic pathologist would tell the trial Ms Ban died from ‘significant facial injuries’ as a result of separate ‘blunt impacts’, the court heard.

The jury were shown an interactive digital version of the crime scene, which displayed blood-stained steps

He told jurors Mr McEwan ‘almost immediately’ called a number of friends upon returning home at about 5am and confessed ‘he killed a girl by bashing her’.

The apprentice spray painter also allegedly told his sister something ‘really bad’ had happened and police may be looking for him.

There was evidence Mr McEwan had drunk half a bottle of rum and six shots of other spirits over two-and-a-half hours that night, Mr Meredith said.

The jury were shown an interactive digital version of the crime scene, which displayed blood-stained steps leading up into Wickham Park from the corner of Albert and Turbot streets.

The trial, which is expected to run for two weeks, continues before Justice Jean Dalton.