Dusko Culibrk's mother, Milica, gifted him a card for his 38th birthday.
"A son is someone special in so many different ways, he has a way of bringing special moments to your days," it read.
Five days later, in November 2022, Mr Culibrk was murdered by a fellow patient in the adult mental health unit at Canberra Hospital.
His killer, Aleu Mapiou, who was 18 at the time, has pleaded not guilty by reason of mental impairment to one count of murder.
Justice Belinda Baker is set to evaluate the case and determine if this plea will be accepted by the court.
In a statement read by a pastor to the ACT Supreme Court on Friday, Mr Culibrk's family said they were "completely destroyed".
"We can't joke or be happy anymore," the family stated.
"Our hearts are broken and we can't imagine life without him."
The victim's grieving mother described her son as "a very generous person".
"He was a very nice person, friendly, he prays for everyone," she said.
She said Mr Culibrk regularly made charitable donations and "if he had no money he would give them lollies".
"I dream about my son and hugging him," she said.
'Explosively violent'
The court on Friday heard evidence from two psychiatrists who had both diagnosed Mapiou with schizophrenia and believed he was experiencing psychosis at the time of the murder.
Professor David Greenberg said the accused had no memory of the incident, but there was evidence he had "lost touch with reality" and thought he was "acting in self-defence because of paranoid thoughts".
Prosecutor Trent Hickey told the court this severe psychotic episode "was of such a nature that he didn't understand his actions were wrong".
Mr Hickey stated the murder was unprovoked and "explosively violent".
"[Mapiou] poses a significant risk to the community," he said.
Mapiou's barrister, Kieran Ginges, argued his client had demonstrated "a reasonable degree of remorse".
The murder
An agreed summary of evidence states Mapiou killed Mr Culibrk in November 2022 after about 11pm.
After the two men went missing, a nurse found them in Mr Culibrk's room with the door closed.
Upon tapping her swipe card to unblur a switchable glass panel, the nurse allegedly saw Mapiou with his back to the door carrying the other man.
Mr Culibrk was said to be slumped on the floor, his head on the side of the bed and blood pooled nearby.
After trying to resuscitate the victim for almost an hour, medical staff pronounced him dead at 12.21am.
A forensic pathologist found Mr Culibrk's cause of death was "multiple blunt force head and neck injuries with a likely asphyxia component".
Justice Baker is set to hand down her decision at a later date.
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Support is available for those who may be distressed. Phone Lifeline 13 11 14; MensLine 1300 789 978; beyondblue 1300 224 636.
