A pizza chef accused of murder made a series of internet searches about ways to kill people the weekend before his friend was found dead, a jury heard.
Nikola Zhulev Googled terms like “Stabbing in the heart with a knife”: “Cutting a throat” and “If a person’s neck gets broken do they die?” in the early hours of April 17 last year.
He also carried out web searches for “A hit to the head consequences”: “How dangerous is a hit to the head 24 hours” and “Loss of consciousness after a hit”.
On the morning of Monday April 20 the 30-year-old Bulgarian national was Googling “How long does it take for a person to suffocate?” and “Hanging Wikipedia”.
The jury at the High Court in Livingston heard that freelance jeweller Alan Gardner, who Zhulev described as “like a father” to him, was found dead at his home in Balbeggie, Perthshire, on Friday April 24 2015.
He had a head wound imprinted with the pattern from the base of a heavy frying pan found in the kitchen.
Mr Gardner, 49, said to be a chronic alcoholic, is believed to have died instantly from a brain stem problem that caused his breathing to shut down.
Detective Constable David McLeod, based at Police Scotland’s cybercrime unit in Dundee, told the jury he had been asked to examine the contents of Zhulev’s LG smartphone and prepare a report.
He said the accused’s browsing history included the search terms for various types of injury as well as Amazon searches for an HP digital camera and a Panasonic camcorder.
He also found an email from Just Eat dated April 20 about a takeaway order placed with the Turkish Kebab and Pizza House for chicken doner kebab, chicken wrap and onion rings worth £17.
A second Just Eat email dated April 23 confirmed another food order placed with Marmaris takeaway in Perth.
He said a Facebook message from Zhulev to a Bulgarian friend dated April 13 at 10.50 said: “I’m in Balbeggie.”
On April 23 there was Facebook conversation between Zhulev when another friend told him: “Bad news.”
Zhulev replied: “What happened?” and the friend responded: “About Alan.”
The friend told Zhulev that Mr Gardner had died and sent him a newspaper clipping.
They then had a discussion about Mr Gardner’s Toyota 4×4 car, which the jury heard Zhulev was trying to sell.
Zhulev, a prisoner at Perth, is accused of murdering Mr Gardner, concealing his body in a duvet and digging a woodland grave with the intention of disposing the body to defeat the ends of justice.
He is also accused of stealing cameras and jewellery, pawning gold valuables and fraudulently using Mr Gardner’s credit card to order takeaway meals.
In addition he is charged with possessing and being concerned in the supply of the class A drug, heroin.
He denies all the charges.
The trial, before Lady Rae, continues.