A Sydney realtor who told a woman he loved her but she needed to die before slashing another woman with a samurai sword has been found not guilty of intending to kill or harm them.
Judge Antony Townsden found Balmain real estate agent Karl Adon Howard, 45, not guilty on two counts of grievous bodily harm with intent to murder, and causing grievous bodily harm with intent.
"It is a reasonable speculation that his mental state was extremely disturbed at the time," he said in the Downing Centre District Court on Friday.
The two women were at Howard's Annandale home in February 2021 for an informal gathering where they were drinking and watching television.
The court previously heard Howard had consumed cocaine and several drinks before going to take a shower.
One woman recounted him returning "hyperactive", running and skipping through the property and "acting like a boy", Judge Townsden said.
Howard told her he had taken four Valium and Viagra pills when she asked if he was okay after his behaviour morphed into aggression.
"Don't call. I'm just joking," he told her after she attempted to call an ambulance.
"I just want to keep partying. I'm a drug addict. I can't stop."
Howard then elbowed the other woman in the head before putting his hands around the first woman's throat and forcibly kissing her, before punching her in the head four times.
"I need to kill you. You need to die. I love you but this needs to happen," he told the woman he kissed.
When the other woman tried to intervene, Howard brandished a samurai sword and struck her on her arm, leaving a deep laceration.
During the judgment, Judge Townsden referred to the police account of a "delirious" Howard hiding under the covers in the back of a ute acting in a "psychotic" manner.
The officers said he was making "nonsensical sounds through gritted teeth" and yelling "I'm going to kill you" twice.
Judge Townsden cited the reports of two medical experts at the time who described the offender as being in a "toxic delirium" and "transient paranoia".
"His judgment would have been significantly disturbed, and he would have not been thinking clearly," he said.
Outside the court, Howard's lawyer John Sutton expressed his client's sorrow and shame for the injuries caused to the two women.
"Drugs are a scourge on our society," Mr Sutton said.
"This should serve as a lesson to others who think there's such thing as a safe drug because there simply isn't."
In November, prosecutors rejected Howard's guilty plea to assaulting one woman, causing actual bodily harm, and to recklessly causing grievous bodily harm to the second woman.
They asked the judge to rule on the more serious charges of grievous bodily harm with intent to murder, and causing grievous bodily harm with intent.
Howard will be sentenced for his guilty pleas to the lesser charges on March 24, 2023. He remains on bail.
