A court had heard that a Brisbane financial adviser was mentally ill and having an out of body experience when he bashed his top client to death with a hammer.

October 17, 2018

A Brisbane financial adviser was having an out of body experience when he bashed his top client to death with a hammer, a court has heard.

Trung The Ma is fighting a murder charge on mental health grounds for fatally striking spiritual guru Huegio Bonham in the head during a confrontation over $700,000 in February 2014.

The 35-year-old admitted killing his former No.1 client and hiding his body in storage after their business relationship soured over allegations Ma stole the money.

Psychiatrist Dr Andrew Aboud has told Brisbane Supreme Court that Ma was suffering narcissistic personality disorder at the time of the killing.

Dr Aboud said Ma’s mental illness, coupled with his self-reported depression and an acute stress reaction to Mr Bonham’s ultimatum, created a set of symptoms that amounted to an abnormality of the mind when he killed the 63-year-old.

Ma told Dr Aboud that in the moments before he struck Mr Bonham, the room slowed and he imagined his client was his father, who had also criticised him as a child.

“I was outside of myself, actually looking at myself. I could see I had a hammer in my hand,” he told Dr Aboud.

“Then the room became blindingly bright and time slowed down into slow motion … I could see it happening from the third person perspective. I could see myself striking him with the hammer … but I couldn’t stop myself.”

Dr Aboud said Ma recalled three strikes to Mr Bonham’s head before he realised he was dead.

“Everything suddenly snapped back into real time,” Dr Aboud said, again reading Ma’s words from their interview.

“And I knew my life was over.”

The trial continues.