A young man who texting his mate saying ‘I just went for a walk and killed someone’ has pleaded not guilty to murdering a 22-year-old woman in a Brisbane park, leaving her to drown in her own blood.
Alex Reuben McEwan pleaded not guilty to the November 2013 murder of South Korean woman Eunji Ban, arguing the violence was ‘out of character’ and he suffers from treatment-resistant schizophrenia.
But a series of text messages McEwan sent to his friends just an hour after the murder saying he ‘killed a chick’ because he ‘just felt like it’ convinced the Supreme Court otherwise.
Alex Reuben McEwan (pictured) pleaded not guilty to the November 2013 murder of South Korean woman Eunji Ban, arguing the violence was ‘out of character’ and he suffers from treatment-resistant schizophrenia

Ms Ban (pictured) was found dead in Wickham Park in the early hours of November 2013 after she was allegedly repeatedly punched by McEwan, then 19, while walking to her cleaning job
McEwan’s plea for the lesser charge of manslaughter was not accepted by crown prosecutor David Meredith who told the court McEwan intended to kill Ms Ban.
‘He told police he went out looking for someone to kill,’ the crown prosecutor told the Brisbane Supreme Court on Monday.
Hayden Buchanan told the court he took a call from McEwan at 5am, about an hour after he killed Ms Ban.
‘(He said) ‘I’ve just killed someone. I just went out and bashed someone. I just went for a walk and killed someone’.
‘I just felt like it.’

Hayden Buchanan told the court he took a call from McEwan at 5am, about an hour after he killed Ms Ban. ‘(He said) ‘I’ve just killed someone. I just went out and bashed someone. I just went for a walk and killed someone’. ”I just felt like it’

Blood on the pavement at the scene of the murder at the southern boundary of Wickham Park, off Albert St, in Brisbane, Sunday, Nov. 24, 2013
Ms Ban, 22, was found dead in Wickham Park in the early hours of November 24, 2013 after she was allegedly repeatedly punched by McEwan, then 19, while walking to her cleaning job.
Her head injuries were so severe they caused her to drown in her own blood, the court heard.
McEwan suggested he and Buchanan should get ‘one last pub meal, a big juicy steak’ before he goes to jail.
‘You’ll need to look beyond that crime and into the mind of the killer,’ defence lawyer John Allen QC told the jury.
‘Mr McEwan’s out-of-character, extreme violence was caused by his mental illness.’

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

After killing her, McEwan allegedly dragged her body up a flight of stairs to Wickham Park and left her by a tree, leaving a trail of blood
In a previous hearing Dr Donald Grant said McEwan suffered from a ‘severe illness’, was on high doses of three types of antipsychotic medication and had undergone more than 30 sessions of electro-convulsive therapy in the past.
McEwan’s friends testified violence was out of his character.
He was not blind drunk as he socialised with friends at his Spring Hill unit on the night before the alleged murder, according to those who gave evidence on Monday, but may have smoked a small amount of marijuana.
Earlier that night, he said ‘why does this always happen to me’ after leaving his bank card at a driving range, and was later asked to leave a party in Tarragindi after knocking over a tarp, the court heard.
Ms Ban had set out from a Roma Street Parklands unit about 4am via a walkway leading to Albert Street, the court heard.
After killing her, McEwan allegedly dragged her body up a flight of stairs to Wickham Park and left her by a tree, leaving a trail of blood.
A hospitality worker saw what appeared to be someone pulling something up stairs at Wickham Park before discovering Ms Ban’s body and calling triple-zero shortly before 5am, the court heard.
The trial is set to continue on Tuesday.

Ms Ban’s (pictured) head injuries were so severe they caused her to drown in her own blood, the court heard
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