A Victorian man was "out of his mind" when he allegedly killed a Somalian community leader and tried to stab his friend after they went to check on him, a court has been told.
Luqman Abdishakur Ahmed, 30, is charged with murdering Mohamed Farah with a kitchen knife at a North Melbourne apartment in January.
Court documents allege the victim and three other Somalian community leaders went to Abdishakur Ahmed's apartment after reports he was having mental health issues.
"He was out of his mind, out of control," one of the men told Melbourne Magistrates Court on Tuesday.
"He was there with us physically but he wasn't engaging with anyone."
The man also said mental health is not widely acknowledged in Somalian culture.
"There is a stigma - people don't like to talk about it," he told the court.
Another member of the group, who gathered to read passages of the Koran to Abdishakur Ahmed - a healing process known as ruqya - said the 30-year-old had been "talking to himself".
"When you asked him something he wouldn't give the correct answer, or wouldn't know what were you talking about," the man said.
This man was in another room when the alleged stabbing occurred but heard the others yell out that Abdishakur Ahmed had a knife.
"I saw him in the kitchen with a knife. He was holding it backwards - with the sharp edge backwards," the man said.
"Everything was chaos."
Abdishakur Ahmed later chased the man, whom he had met while studying engineering in Malaysia nearly 10 years ago, and tried to stab him, the court was told.
The friend grabbed the knife but suffered significant lacerations to his left hand, which required therapy.
Abdishakur Ahmed has also been charged with intentionally causing serious injury.
It is his first time in custody.
The committal hearing continues on Wednesday.
