A man charged with the murder of a Brisbane teen who died after falling from a Gold Coast balcony told police he was "losing his mind" after being arrested, a court has heard.
Lachlan Paul Soper-Lagas, Hayden Paul Kratzmann and another person who was a juvenile at the time of the offending and cannot be named for legal reasons, faced a committal hearing the Southport Magistrates Court today over Cian English's death in 2020.
The group has been charged with a number of offences, including the murder, deprivation of liberty and torture of the 19-year-old.
Mr English was staying at the View Pacific Resort in Surfers Paradise in May last year with a group of friends when he fell about four floors to his death.
Police have alleged he fell while fleeing a violent armed robbery.
Police allege that prior to his death Mr English met up with another group, which included Mr Kratzmann and Mr Soper-Lagas, who were staying in the apartment above.
The two groups are believed to have gone back and forth between the two apartments throughout the night.
'Scattered' memories
A number of people who were at the apartment when Mr English died told the court that a cocktail of illicit and prescription drugs and alcohol were consumed in the hours leading up to the alleged murder, including Xanax, MDMA, cannabis, vodka and Rikodeine.
"Whilst [the second group of people] were [in the apartment] it was all good vibes," one witness told police in a statement heard by the court.
Two witnesses told the court they ended up in hospital because they were so intoxicated and had a "scattered" memory of the events of the evening.
"We're talking about one-and-a-half years ago," one witness said.
"I try not to think about it at all."
'Losing my mind'
The court heard when Mr Kratzmann was told he was being questioned over Mr English's murder, he told police: "I'm f***ing losing my mind, I've been off my medication for a few days".
The court heard he told police he suffered from schizophrenia and had not taken his medication for five days.
In court Mr Kratzmann's defence barrister Tim Ryan asked the police officers involved why they continued the interview with the man, who appeared angry or have impaired capacity.
Both detectives present during the interview said in court that they believed Mr Kratzmann had the mental capacity to be interviewed.
"At the time we were asking the questions, I was satisfied the defendant was not under the influence of any drugs and was not suffering from any mental health issues," Detective Senior Constable Jason Sheldon said.
Senior Constable Senior Constable Shane Fry said he believed the phrase "losing my mind" was a "figure of speech".
"I didn't believe your client's capacity was impaired," he told Mr Ryan.
The committal hearings for Mr Kratzmann and Mr Soper-Lagas have been adjourned until February 15.
