A man accused of the brutal bashing murder of Eunji Ban told police he had been troubled by an internal "devil" and was waiting his "whole life" to kill someone, a court has heard.
Alex Reuben McEwan, 23, is on trial in the Brisbane Supreme Court after pleading not guilty to murdering the 22-year-old Korean woman in Brisbane's CBD during the early hours of November 24, 2013.
The jury was on Tuesday played a police recording from the following day, during which McEwan describes a "devil" inside his head that has been troubling him since he was born.
"Thinking really sick thoughts, really feral stuff. And on the night of the murder, I just woke up randomly and did it," he says.
"Probably sounds like a load of s*** ... but, ah, I was kinda waiting for it my whole life."
When prompted to say what he was waiting for, McEwan replies: "To kill someone".
Later in the recording, he says he feels sorry for "the Asian girl and her family" and that he had "bashed the s*** out of her face".
"It's like, myself was in the back of my head just watching (and) someone else doing it," he tells the officers.
"It's like I went all weird and s***. Psychotic."
The jury also heard from witness Dean Quinn, who was walking home from work on the morning of November 24 when he saw something strange happening at a stairwell leading to Wickham Park.
He walked into the park and heard a "gasping or a gurgling noise" before discovering what looked like a body and calling triple-zero.
An audio recording of a morning voicemail to McEwan's then-best friend, Luke Appleton, was also played to the court on Tuesday, saying: "Hey bro, it's Alex ... I f***ing love ya, I f***ing love ya ... tell my family I love them".
A policeman giving evidence said Mr Appleton came to the Dutton Park station and played him the recording, identifying it as coming from McEwan.
In his opening address, crown prosecutor David Meredith said Ms Ban had set out on foot from Roma Street Parkland at about 4am, en route to a shift as a hotel cleaner on George Street.
The court has heard it is not in contention that McEwan killed Ms Ban, but the trial is necessary to determine his mental state at the time and whether or not relevant legal defences, such as insanity, apply.
The trial continues before Justice Jean Dalton.
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