An Australian man has been found guilty of bashing his housemate to death in response to their bad household internet.
Nikola Milosevic, 39, unleashed on Danny Barber in the backyard of their shared Adelaide house in August 2019.
The court heard how Milosevic used a baseball bat, a bicycle and a wheelie bin to brutally assault the 52-year-old.
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The 39-year-old said he was acting in self-defence and didn't mean to kill his housemate; yet he pleaded guilty to manslaughter and not guilty to the more serious charge of murder.
During the eight-day trial, the court was told how Milosevic and Barber were always arguing over the internet connection.
Prosecutor Carmen Matteo explained in the courthouse that 'when the internet would cut out...Barber would come into the house yelling and blaming [Milosevic] for that'.
On the night of the fatal assault, Barber was complaining about the connection again and, in a fit of rage, pulled the power cable from the modem and wrote an angry letter for Milosevic.
The soon-to-be victim reportedly posted the letter onto his housemate's door with a knife and said he would put an axe through Milosevic's head.
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When Milosevic arrived home later that night, he went into his room and saw one of his windows had been smashed.
"I took the note with me and I went to Danny's room to explain that I wasn't home and that it's not my fault," Milosevic explained during the trial.
"There were many problems with [the] internet-we had a bad connection because it was wireless ... I think he was blaming me all the time for it."
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Milosevic told the court how Barber was armed with a knife and tried to stab him and Barber ran outside when he locked himself inside a cupboard for safety.
The 39-year-old picked up a baseball bat when he heard someone smashing glass and later discovered Barber was destroying his car windows.
Milosevic whacked Barber over the head with the bat, causing the housemate to hit the deck.
Prosecutors claimed Milosevic then assaulted his victim more than 30 times over several hours. At one point he threw a bicycle and a wheelie bin on his motionless head and body.
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Once the brutal assault was done, Milosevic called Triple Zero. Barber died a few hours later.
Prosecutor Carmen Matteo told the court the 39-year-old claimed he had 'just got home and... didn't know what happened but it looked like someone had beaten his housemate up and he was in a bad way'.
Milosevic admitted to consuming methampethamine and cannabis on the day of the assault.
It took a court three hours to find Milosevic guilty on the charge of murder. He will be sentenced at a later date.
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Featured Image Credit: PA
Topics: Australia