Glenn Raymond Trinne killed neighbour Graham Priestley at Kyogle

A former mechanic with schizophrenia brutally killed his neighbour by bludgeoning him with a brick and smothering him with a pillow - but has been found not criminally responsible.

Mr Priestley was found dead inside his Curtois St, Kyogle unit. Picture: Google Maps

A former Kyogle mechanic with schizophrenia horrifically killed his neighbour by bludgeoning him with a brick and smothering him with a pillow - but has been found not criminally responsible.

The killer said the 75-year-old victim – Graham Priestley – was “a f--ked up c--t” who “cough[ed] every third breath” and he could hear sounds through the pipes in the walls when his neighbour would use the water, a court heard.

In the lead-up to the killing, Trinne admitted to having a series of disturbing dreams about suffocating Mr Priestley.

Glenn Raymond Trinne faced Lismore Supreme Court on Friday via videolink after he was charged with murder.

Justice Weinstein said it was proven Trinne did kill Mr Priestley however he was not found criminally responsible because he was suffering from a psychotic disorder when the offending occurred.

The brutal killing took place at Mr Preistley’s Curtois St unit in Kyogle between Anzac Day and April 26, 2022.

At court, Justice Weinstein read out the police facts. He said Trinne, 58, was suffering from schizophrenia and epilepsy when he killed Mr Priestley.

The flat was on Curtois St, Kyogle. Picture: Google Maps

The victim lived adjacent to Trinne in the unit block and the killer had complained about Mr Priestley making noise so he slept in the laundry, the court heard.

A woman found Mr Priestley on the floor of his apartment covered in blood on April 27.

A brick with the victim’s blood on it was found at the crime scene. Picture: File

Mr Priestley was not able to be revived by emergency services and police stated his head was swollen. Officers discovered a brick coated in the victim’s blood and Trinne’s DNA at the scene.

Police found Trinne in the laundry where he initially denied having any involvement in the victim’s death. Officers spotted scratches on the inside of his palm and minor hand injuries, which he claimed were from cutting vegetables.

Trinne went to a nearby restaurant and told a waitress that he had “killed that man” and the loud noises the victim made in his flat were “f--ked”. He said he could hear the pipes in the walls when Mr Priestley turned his taps on.

The killer told police his neighbour was noisy. Picture: File

The killer told police he could hear his neighbour “coughing every third breath” and that he could not sleep.

Trinne later told a doctor he was listening to music in his flat with his headphones on and he could “feel” Mr Priestley’s “negativity” and had up to five dreams about suffocating him.

He told the doctor about the killing: “I smashed his f–ken head in … he was fighting back.”

The court heard the cause of death was found to be smothering and blunt force injury. Trinne had a violent father and believed his schizophrenia was a fabrication invented by a social worker.

The outside of Lismore Court House. Picture: File

A statement from Dr Gerald Chew said Trinne had delusions about telepathy, messages from god and believed “he had a special gift on earth to make sure people were killed”.

“There were delusions about energy transfers relating specifically to the deceased,” Dr Chew said.

The court heard when Trinne found out his matter would go to court he said he did not understand why he needed a lawyer.

“The judge will be a perfectionist dictator like my father,” he said.

Justice Weinstein said under the Mental Health Act, Trinne could not be found guilty of murder.

“The mental health impairment was present during the offending and now. He has schizophrenia and did not know the offending was wrong,” he said.

The case will be reviewed by the tribunal while Trinne remains detained in a correctional facility.