By Lisa Chmelecki,Staff Writer

AUBURN – State prosecutors decided Friday that they want one trial for the two men accused of kidnapping and killing an 82-year-old man last March.

David Lakin, 22, of Bartlett Street, and Shaun Tuttle, 21, of Wood Street, both of Lewiston, each face one count of murder and one count of kidnapping in connection with the death of James McManus.

They are accused of driving McManus to a remote road in Turner, beating and strangling him, then driving over him. McManus’ body was found March 11 in the trunk of his car parked on Horton Street in downtown Lewiston.

According to court documents, each man told police during separate interviews that he was passed out inside the car while the other killed and ran over McManus.

The decision to have one trial with one jury, as opposed to separate trials or one trial with two juries, means that prosecutors will not be able to tell the jury about those statements.

The state had originally planned to try Lakin and Tuttle together, but defense attorneys argued that separate trials were the only way to ensure fairness, since each suspect blamed the other.

The attorneys argued that one trial would rob the defendants of a chance to confront or cross-examine the other about the statements each made to police, since both men would have the right not to take the stand.

The state offered to “sanitize” the statements by taking out any reference to the other defendant by name or any reference that would identify the third person at the scene as the other defendant.

But Justice Thomas E. Delahanty II decided that tactic was too risky.

Delahanty issued a ruling last month, giving state prosecutors three options: one trial without the statements, two trials with different juries or one trial with two juries.

The Attorney General’s Office informed the Androscoggin County Superior Court clerk’s office Friday that it has chosen one trial with one jury. Jury selection is scheduled for March 11, and the trial is set to begin March 14.