A love-struck man accused of murdering four men in Darwin as he searched for his girlfriend says one of the men had poisoned him two days before being shot dead.
Benjamin Glenn Hoffmann, 47, has pleaded not guilty to four counts of murder during a drug-fuelled rampage at four locations on June 4, 2019.
The day after the men were killed, Hoffmann told police he believed his alleged third victim, Michael Sisois, 57, had poisoned him in an attempt to kill him two days earlier.
"Someone tried to kill me the other night," he said in a recording played to the Northern Territory Supreme Court on Thursday.
"I reckon I was spiked. Maybe with a substance or something.
"I think Sisois did it. That Greek guy. I don't know if he used tranquilliser or tried to poison me."
Hoffmann told officers he struggled to speak and walked around in circles after the alleged poisoning.
"Whatever this was I haven't had any type of reaction like it," he said in a recording played for the jury.
"I was couldn't read a sentence. I was f***ed. I was starting to lose consciousness."
Hoffmann also detailed the stress he'd endured in the lead-up to June 4, as he tried to help his girlfriend, Kelly Collins, beat drug addiction.
"I'm really worried I won't be able to explain the f***ing intensity of the s*** I've been going through over the last few months," he said.
"It's off the charts. I'm sad. I'm just f***ed."
He described Ms Collins as an "ex-working girl" who continued to be preyed upon by men dealing drugs.
"I f***ing struggled to get her in the right situation," he said.
Hoffmann said the poisoning may have also been an attempt to make him look incapable of caring for Ms Collins, who was with him at the rural property in Darwin's outskirts when the alleged incident happened.
"The law has got to be able to see what these people are doing," he said.
The Crown says Hoffmann shot Mr Sisois in the head with a shotgun in the car park at The Buff Club a day after demanding he bring a woman to him via text message.
"I will f***ing wreck you, Sisois. Bring her to me. I'll f*** you up," the message read.
Before that, he allegedly shot dead Hassan Baydoun, 33, at the Palms Motel and Nigel Hellings, 75, at an apartment complex.
Rob Courtney, 52, also died after he was stabbed more than 30 times and shot at Darwin Recycling.
The trial continues.
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