Told him to do it

prisoners occurring during the onset of hallucinations, which [Te Poono] attributed to the devil and Mr Culling giving him instructions,’’ the judge said.

The voices ‘‘commanded’’ him to attack, plaguing him until he was treated with anti-psychotic medication, the judge said.

However, there was no evidence Te Poono suffered the same issues on the night of Culling’s death.

Culling, also known as Samuel Badawi, died from a gunshot wound to the head in August 2015. His body was found in Palmerston North and his blood was found throughout Te Poono’s car.

Te Poono said he saw Culling get shot, but had no idea who did it.

The Crown argued Te Poono’s attacks while in prison showed he had a tendency to be inexplicably violent – something it claimed was present in the killing of Culling.

The judge said the prison attacks appeared to be inexplicable until Barry-walsh’s assessment.

He said the Crown never raised an obvious motive for Te Poono killing Culling, but there was one for the prison attacks.