Lam collapsed yesterday morning during his first court hearing on the charge, prompting Honolulu District Judge Lono Lee to call a recess. The hearing resumed and Lam was treated by paramedics, although he tried to tell them he was OK, his lawyer Howard Luke said.

Luke said his client had been "extremely emotionally distraught," had been seeing a therapist and had lost about 30 pounds in the past few weeks.

Luke said Lam was "physically drained and exhausted" during the hearing.

"There's no question he was incredibly emotionally and mentally disturbed," Luke said.

But he said it's too early to say whether he will ask for the appointment of a three-member panel of mental-health professionals to determine if Lam was legally insane at the time of the killing.

In the affidavit, police officer Thomas Chang said he was sent to the Kaunanoa Street home after a male caller told police dispatch that he had killed his wife.

The officer said when he got there, he was waved down by Lam, who told him he was sorry and that he had killed his wife. Lam said his wife was in the downstairs bedroom and he didn't want his children to wake up and see her, the affidavit said.

Lam had "blood-like stains" on his right lower leg and the area of his left elbow, Chang said in the affidavit.

The Lams, both agents for Dower Realty, have two children, ages 8 and 6. The children are now with relatives.

Another officer found the wife's body with serious head injuries on the mattress in the downstairs bedroom, Chang said. Near her body was a "large hammer," he said.

Tan Lam was taken to The Queen's Medical Center for medication, the affidavit said.

"During that time, Lam said that voices told him to kill his wife and to use the hammer," Chang said.

Lam was arrested and held on $500,000 bail.

Second-degree murder carries a mandatory life term with option for parole.

Lam is scheduled to return to District Court tomorrow to determine if the prosecution has enough evidence to send the case to trial.