A Melbourne man, who threatened to kill his girlfriend in the months before he fatally shot her, has been found not guilty of murder.
Nelson Lai, 35, told a Victorian Supreme Court jury the death of Rekiah O'Donnell was a tragic accident and he would never have pulled the trigger if he had thought the borrowed gun he was waving around was loaded.
The court heard Lai would beat and threaten Ms O'Donnell, telling her on one occasion: "My mission will be complete when you're gone, slut."
Lai, a former chronic ice addict, said he was just venting and became paranoid on drugs.
The jury found him guilty of manslaughter over the 22-year-old's death on the morning of October 11, 2013.
During his trial the court heard Lai had smoked ice about 2am the morning of the shooting, but he denied he was angry, or in a rage because he was coming down off the drug.
He said he had been in bed, waving the borrowed gun around, pulling the trigger, when he heard a bang, then a thump.
Ms O'Donnell was shot through the head and died.
Lai's father Dennis told the court he ran into the room after hearing the gun followed by screaming.
He said his son started performing CPR after calling for an ambulance.
Mr Lai said his son told him in Hakka, the East Timorese language they spoke at home, "I didn't know there was one in it".
The court heard Ms O'Donnell had previously pleaded with Lai to get help for his violent outbursts.
"You are sick and need help, even so, you are my babeh,"she wrote in one letter during a period of separation.
Lai will be sentenced by Justice Michael Croucher.
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