An alleged Sydney murderer has admitted killing a NSW father before police found the body significantly decomposed but is due to argue it wasn't intentional, a court has heard.
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Khanh Xuan Pham, 40, was arrested in January 2019 after the body of Goran Stevanovic was discovered inside his Sadleir home in Sydney's southwest.
"I am not guilty of murder but I am guilty of manslaughter," he told the NSW Supreme Court on Friday.
Pham's barrister said the issue of "excessive self-defence" was in issue.
Prosecutors say that defence isn't "factually based" and thus wasn't available to plead.
They did not accept the manslaughter plea.
Mr Stevanovic, a 40-year-old father from Minto, was reported missing on January 10 and found in Pham's home three days later.
Police at the time said the body was in a "significant state of decomposition".
"This was a very difficult crime scene for the police who attended and the investigators," Superintendent Adam Whyte told reporters in January 2019.
Pham will face a three-week trial in March 2021.
Australian Associated Press
