A Darwin court has heard a man was allegedly murdered by two friends for drinking one of their beers.

The body of Paul John Stamp, 47, was found in the boot of a burnt-out car in April last year.

Gregory John Channing, 41, and Gary Stewart Miles, 40, are facing a murder committal hearing in the Darwin Magistrates Court.

The prosecution told the court Mr Stamp was living with Miles at his Darwin unit in April last year.

The court was told Miles and Channing had warned Mr Stamp not to drink any of their beer.

It is alleged the pair bashed Mr Stamp when they found he had drunk one of their beers.

The court was told they then put him in the boot of a car, with the intention of dumping him out bush and letting him "find his own way home".

But the prosecutor alleges they ran out of fuel in Darwin's industrial area, hitched a ride to a petrol station, and then returned and set the car alight, burning Mr Stamp alive.

Channing and Miles intend to plead not guilty to murder, the court was told.

Mr Stamp arrived in the Northern Territory from Western Australia eight days before his death.

Originally from the Lake Macquarie area of New South Wales, he had been working around Australia for the past six years.

It is believed he intended to work in the gold mining industry in the Territory.

The hearing continues.