A man accused of plunging a Lord of the Rings replica sword into his girlfriend's head has been found not guilty of attempted murder.
Adam Alberi always maintained that Karina Todorashko had attacked him with the deliberately-sharpened sword, which he said he caught in his hand before she accidentally stabbed herself.
The 25-year-old had pleaded not guilty in the South Australian Court to the attempted murder of Ms Todorashko, 27, in the early hours of July 17, 2013 at the unit they shared in Adelaide's inner south.
The jury of 11 men and one woman returned a majority not guilty verdict late on Monday.
Prosecutor Mark Norman had alleged it would have been physically impossible for Ms Todorashko to have caused her serious injury with the sword which went through 1cm of her skull and 5.5cm into her brain.
The jury was told that the relationship between Mr Alberi, an Iraqi national, and Ms Todorashko, who came to Australia from Ukraine, was "in trouble".
A neighbour testified that Mr Alberi was an easy-going person and that he had heard Ms Todorashko yelling and screaming at times and saw her follow her boyfriend when he walked away from arguments.
After Ms Todorashko was injured, the bleeding woman managed to escape over the balcony and get into the unit below where she collapsed before the residents called for an ambulance.
Mr Norman told the jurors they would not hear evidence from Ms Todorashko, warning them not to speculate about the reason for this.
The jury at an earlier trial was discharged on the third day for legal reasons.
Ms Todorashko gave evidence at that hearing, saying she remembered little of the night.
"Can I just say to the whole jury, I mean the juries, I want this case to be over, whether he did it or not I forgive him," she said.
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