A 33-year-old man who stabbed another man 17 times with an illegal butterfly knife he bought online has been found guilty of murder.
Levi John Stephen Elliott denied intending to kill or harm anyone when he swung the weapon that slashed Adam Woodward outside the Brisbane leagues club in 2018.
But a Brisbane Supreme Court jury has rejected his version, finding him guilty of murder on Monday after 10 days of hearing evidence and just hours of deliberating.
Jurors accepted the Crown's case that the now-33-year-old Elliott went to the Brothers St Brendan's Leagues Club on August 24, 2018 - the day before his birthday - armed with the knife, knowing Mr Woodward was there.
Prosecutor Caroline Marco told the trial Elliott's real purpose was to use the weapon against 35-year-old Mr Woodward if a fight eventuated between them.
Referring to footage from inside the venue shown during the trial, Ms Marco claimed Elliott antagonised Mr Woodward from two minutes after his arrival at the club.
She also argued Elliott left after challenging Mr Woodward to a fight.
Witnesses told the trial about a physical altercation between the pair outside, but no one saw the butterfly knife in Elliott's hand until the fight was over.
Mr Woodward suffered 17 knife wounds including the fatal laceration to his neck that transected his jugular vein causing massive haemorrhaging before collapsing his left lung.
The jury rejected Elliott's version that he acted in self-defence after "being a smart-arse" inside the club in the hope Mr Woodward would leave, but instead left first.
Elliott said he was just outside when he felt surrounded, before hearing loud footsteps coming quickly up behind him and finding Mr Woodward on top of him.
Elliott told the trial he cut his fingers as he grabbed the butterfly knife from his pocket, using it "defensively ... not striking in any precise way".
"I was in fear," he added.
"I was trapped ... I just defended myself."
Justice Glenn Martin is expected to hand down Elliott's sentence on Monday afternoon.
