A Canberra man accused of a deadly, bloody attack that killed one person and seriously injured two others is likely to avoid trial due to his mental impairment.
Wajid Kakar, 37, is charged with the murder of 34-year-old Michael Williams and the attempted murder of a man and a woman two years ago.
The two male victims were Mr Kakar's housemates. The third victim was a woman visiting their house in Page in Canberra's west.
The survivors were so badly injured it was days before police could interview them.
Mr Kakar was also badly hurt and spent weeks in hospital.
He appeared in person in the ACT Supreme Court on Wednesday, where he pleaded not guilty by reason of mental impairment to each charge.
Prosecutors also asked that he be found not guilty for the same reason.
'Like being in a horror movie'
Court documents have revealed new details about the attack, in which Mr Kakar used a meat cleaver and a knife.
Mr Kakar allegedly attacked Mr Williams first, chopping and slashing him, leaving him with catastrophic injuries from which he died.
Moments later, he forced his way into the room where the other two were sleeping, saying words to the effect of "I am going to kill you".
The documents say Mr Kakar attacked the man with the cleaver, as the man protected himself with his arms while cowering and pleading "please no".
The man later told police it was "like being in a horror movie".
He eventually escaped across the road, and a neighbour called police.
Mr Kakar also attacked the woman and dragged her into the kitchen, where he stabbed her with a "bladed instrument".
The woman suffered significant cuts and fractures, including to her skull and spine.
Mr Kakar then turned on himself, slashing his neck and stabbing himself in the abdomen.
Police also said a neighbour who came to see what was happening fled after Mr Kakar, carrying the weapons, followed her across the lawn.
The court documents also outlined how police needed to taser Mr Kakar several times before they could disarm him and apply first aid.
Defendant expresses 'sadness, regret'
Prosecutor Anthony Williamson told the court Mr Kakar suffered acute schizophrenia and, as a result, asked that he be found not guilty.
Mr Kakar's lawyer Tamzin Lee said he did not remember the events, and had expressed profound remorse.
"He expresses sadness, regret and feels bad for the people involved," she said.
"He has stated it is wrong to take a life."
Ms Lee acknowledged the terror the victims had experienced.
She also told the court Mr Kakar was an asylum seeker who had moved from Afghanistan to Pakistan, and then to Australia via a perilous boat trip, before stints in immigration detention, including on Christmas island.
She said he was unemployed at the time of the alleged offending, isolated and suffering mental illness.
Justice Belinda Baker adjourned the case to consider whether to accept the plea and, if so, what sentence she should impose.
