Mr Trevor Stokes, a Co Kildare man accused of murder, wrote in a personal diary about his wish to break a man's legs, the Darwin Supreme Court was told yesterday.
Just over a fortnight after the murder of 20-year-old Mr Greg Bebensee in Darwin, Mr Stokes (26), from Naas, allegedly wrote : "I am going to bed early as I was sitting listening to a man from New Zealand . . . I don't like him. I'd like to break his legs."
The accused kept his diary in Irish. Extracts read in court yesterday were translated by a teacher, Mr Barney Devlin, from Belfast.
There was no entry in the diary immediately after the killing of Mr Bebensee in Darwin on June 6th last year.
An entry in July allegedly stated: "I am a bad person."
Sgt Sean O'Sullivan gave evidence of a failed search for the tomahawk that prosecutors allege Mr Stokes used to hack his victim to death.
The accused's backpacking friend, Mr Lee McLaughlin (26), from Ballymena, Co Antrim, told police the weapon was thrown on a roadside near Darwin after the murder.
A video was screened in court showing Mr McLaughlin leading police to a clump of trees in Darwin where Mr Bebensee's wallet lay hidden.
The trial, before Judge Dean Mildren, continues today.