A Sydney man who repeatedly stabbed an elderly taxi driver and then explained to police that watching horror movies had given him "a taste for killing" has been found guilty of wounding with intent to murder.
On the night of December 30, 2013, after drinking heavily and repeatedly watching the "slasher movies" Texas Chainsaw Massacre and Friday the 13th, Luke William Woods, 36, stabbed 71-year-old Neal Kent 13 times in the neck, shoulder and head.
The Downing Centre District Court heard on Friday that, earlier on the night in question, Woods had wrapped a 30-centimetre Stanley knife in a JB Hi-Fi catalogue, placed it in a Coles bag, and left his room at the Cosy Hotel in the CBD.
After catching a train to Martin Place, Woods got into Mr Kent's taxi and said he wanted to go to Surry Hills.
Once they reached the suburb, Woods directed Mr Kent to stop in Fitzroy Lane, asking him: "How much do I owe you?"
Before the cabbie had a chance to answer, Woods began stabbing him repeatedly in the shoulder, back of the neck and in the armpit.
The driver was unable to escape for some time because he could not undo his seatbelt.
In convicting Woods on Friday, Judge David Arnott said the evidence had shown that a number of the wounds were potentially fatal and that Mr Kent had been lucky that "none of the stab wounds in his neck had severed the jugular".
Woods left the catalogue, which had multiple fingerprints and samples of his DNA.
When arrested a few days later, he told the police that watching the horror films had given him a "taste for blood".
"I was just getting the taste for killing someone," he told police.
"I don't know why, well I do, I guess. Just my life was getting pretty yuck.
"I was just very drunk and just angry at the world, I guess."
Woods was charged with wounding with intent to murder, but pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm. The Crown declined to accept the plea.
He later told a psychiatrist that the attack had been a "cry for help", that he wanted to be taken into custody so he could receive care and treatment.
"The psychiatrist said some of the accused's answers to police were a demonstration of bravado so that he could get long-term care," Judge Arnott said of the psychiatrist's evidence during the two-day, judge-alone trial.
"When asked why the accused had run if he wanted to be institutionalised, the psychiatrist said Woods "may have regretted what he had done".
However, Judge Arnott said the psychiatrist could not explain why Woods had lured the driver into a back alley in the first place and thrown the bloodied knife and clothes away as he made his escape.
He found that Woods' evidence to police was the strongest indication of his intention at the time of the offence, and that his intention had been to kill the taxi driver.
"I find that it was part of the accused's intention when he set out that night from the hotel to commit a robbery, and that it was a misplaced cry for help so that he could get institutionalised care," Judge Arnott said.
"However, when he learnt during the journey that the driver did not have any real money, his intention changed.
"I find beyond reasonable doubt that the accused formed the intention to kill Mr Kent when he attacked him in the taxi."
Woods will return to court on September 25 for sentencing.
