Art dealer accused of killing friend with candlestick thought he was a 'green alien', Swiss court hears

A British man was beaten to death with a candlestick by an art dealer who thought he was a "green alien", a Swiss court has heard.

Alex Morgan was allegedly brutally killed by his friend Bennet von Vertes who, under the influence of alcohol, ketamine, cocaine and sleeping pills, became psychotic and hallucinated that the 23-year-old was a creature from outer space who had to be killed, the court heard.

On Monday, at the beginning of a week long trial, prosecutors told how Vertes invited Mr Morgan, whom he met when the two men were students at London’s Regent College, to his home near Zurich while his family were away skiing.

Mr Morgan died in the early hours of 30 December 2014, a court heard, as a snowstorm raged outside the property.

His mutilated body was found the next day when Vertes, the privileged son of a successful art dealer who had followed in his father's footsteps to trade works by Andy Warhol and Damien Hirst, called the police to say that there was “a severely injured man” at his house.

Vertes' neighbours in the wealthy Kusnacht district said he was polite and charming, The Telegraph reports, but prosecutors told how shortly after opening his own gallery, Vertes developed an addiction to ketamine and cocaine.

Vertes allegedly invited Mr Morgan to his house to "party". He then “consumed alcohol, ketamine, cocaine and sleeping pills".

Under the influence of the substances he "went into a psychotic state with paranoid delusions,” a court in Meilen heard.

Vertes reportedly believed the Briton had turned into a green alien who was trying to kill him, and that they were “the last people on the planet”, the court heard.

Vertes is accused of stabbing Mr Morgan with shards of glass from a smashed coffee table and striking him with a metre-long candlestick and a golden sculpture weighing 4lb. He then attacked Mr Morgan with the candlestick, choking him to death.

Lawyers for Vertes are reportedly contesting a murder charge, on the grounds of insanity.

Mr Morgan’s mother, Katja Faber, 53, a barrister, was in court on Monday for the start of the trial.

“My darling Alex deserved to live a good, amazing life, to bring love, laughter and originality to this world - not to be bludgeoned to death,” she said.

“The pain just grinds on and on and on.

“A huge part of me was ripped violently out of my being when the police told me Alex had died, and that part has left such a gaping hole that sometimes it’s all I can do to keep breathing.”