A NSW man who strangled his girlfriend to death because he thought she was a demon has been found guilty of her murder.
Jordan Brodie Miller was 20 when he killed Emerald Wardle, 18, who was found in an ensuite bathroom at a home in Metford, near Maitland, on June 20, 2020.
Miller admitted killing Ms Wardle but pleaded not guilty to murdering her, claiming he was in a psychotic state at the time and did not intend to harm his girlfriend and could not be held criminally responsible .
His defence had argued it was the first episode of a psychosis caused by an underlying form of undiagnosed schizophrenia, but the Newcastle Supreme Court jury rejected this and convicted him on Tuesday.
The Crown case was Miller's psychotic state was drug-induced, after admitting to police of taking LSD 11 days prior.
He also claimed to have reached spiritual enlightenment but Ms Wardle had been "trying to suck the life out of me".
The jury were told Miller ran towards police when they arrived at the scene, pleading for help with a demon.
"If you walk inside and go into the bathroom, it's in there, the demon. Help me, help me, the demon's got me, help me," he told officers.
A neighbour had heard muffled yelling at 12.12am where the male sounded angry and the female sounded frightened before there was a loud bang like a door slamming.
Miller was speaking to a triple-zero operator some time later and said: "This is an emergency. I feel like my health is at risk."
He wanted someone to come quickly to the house because he said there was quite a mess at the property.
"They're going white," he told the operator.
"They're starting to bleed from their mouth."
When asked who he was talking about, Miller replied: "The person that I killed. I believe it's a demon. I killed a demon, yes."
Following his arrest in July, Miller refused to take his anti-psychotic medication and was paranoid and delusional, seeing "glitches" in reality.
He will be sentenced at a later date.
