Man found not guilty of Qld chef's murder

A man has been found not guilty of bludgeoning Brisbane chef Peter Milos to death with a builder's spirit level and a hammer over an alleged $10,000 drug debt.

Mr Milos had been dead for about two days when his body was found on the floor of a house at Morningside on May 6, 2014.

Police alleged acquaintance James Thomas Howell repeatedly bashed in Mr Milos's skull after he was captured on CCTV walking near the house on the afternoon on May 4.

Mr Howell stood trial in the Brisbane Supreme Court in September 2016 after pleading not guilty to murder but the jury was unable to reach a verdict.

He was acquitted on Wednesday after his second trial, with the jury taking almost two days to reach its unanimous decision.

The trial had heard Mr Milos was being pursued over about $10,000 in drug debts when he was killed, and had plans to leave for Croatia.

Defence barrister Jeff Hunter QC told the jury Mr Howell denied being at Mr Milos's house at the time of the murder, and said there was no evidence of blood splatter on Mr Howell's clothing.

The court heard police were unable to locate the dark shirt Howell was wearing in CCTV footage about the time of the attack.

Mr Hunter had also urged the jury to consider whether there were others with a strong motive to kill Mr Milos.