A Queanbeyan man has been found guilty of murdering Aaron Baxter after a fight under the city's bridge on Boxing Day in 2019.
Alan William Delaney, 53, was initially charged with manslaughter, but that was upgraded to murder shortly afterwards.
An eyewitness, Joseph Wiewiti, previously gave the NSW Supreme Court an account of the brutal bashing telling the court how he saw Delaney hit Mr Baxter in the head repeatedly and saw Mr Baxter's head bounce off a concrete wall.
He also told the court how Delaney had kneed Mr Baxter in the torso under the ribs, after yelling threats at him including:
"I'm going to f***ing kill you" and "You are a dead c**t".
The court heard Mr Baxter was alive when Delaney left the scene, but he was later found by police in a bad state, groaning and complaining of a pain in his stomach.
He was rushed to hospital where he died from a ruptured spleen.
A key issue at the trial was whether the ruptured spleen had been caused by the bashing, or if the injury was a result of him falling forward, after the fight.
Also at issue was Delaney's intent at the time of the attack.
The doctor who carried out the post mortem, Johan Duflou, told the court Mr Baxter had complex and serious health problems, including cirrhosis of the liver, chronic pancreatitis, some artery hardening and emphysema.
He was asked by defence lawyer Duncan Berents if it was possible the ruptured spleen could have been caused by falling on his front.
"I think it's a possibility but it's not necessarily one I would favour," Dr Duflou said.
Prosecutor Nerissa Keay told the jury they should dismiss suggestions of any unwitnessed fall before or after the fight.
She also pointed to Delaney's obvious anger a the time, as a signal of his intent.
"He was angry and wanted to hurt him," she said.
"He hit him so hard he hurt his hand."
Ms Keay also told the jury that Delaney had boasted on Facebook about seriously injuring Mr Baxter, which showed his intent.
Delaney became emotional during the trial, as he watched a video of his police interview, reliving the moment he was told Mr Baxter had died.
He told police he had been angry with Mr Baxter for several reasons.
He believed he had stolen money from him, and that Mr Baxter had ruined his relationship by telling her that he was taking him to a brothel.
But during the police interview, Delaney was profoundly shocked to learn of Mr Baxter's death.
"Please tell me this is a bad dream," he said to officers.
"I know I go cranky at times, but I didn't mean to do that.
"I thought he'd have a fat lip or something like that.
"I knew I hit him. My emotions went stupid."
The choices for the jury were whether Delaney had committed murder, or manslaughter, or was innocent.
The trial ran for five days.
After a day and a half of deliberating the jury returned its unanimous verdict of guilty of murder.
