PORTLAND – His head bowed, a sobbing Michael Hutchinson on Thursday painted a gloomy picture of his life before and at the time he said he witnessed the brutal 1994 killing of Crystal Perry, the Bridgton woman he is accused of murdering.

Perry, 30, had been stabbed about 50 times in the head and body. Hutchinson’s sperm was found in and on her and on her living room carpet; his blood was on her legs and in her kitchen.

In a low voice with a heavy Maine accent, the 32-year-old defendant spoke slowly after taking the witness stand in Cumberland County Superior Court. He paused before answering each question asked by his lawyer, Robert Andrews, during his half-hour of testimony.

Dressed in a dark pin-striped suit, his hair clipped short, Hutchinson told of an unhappy childhood growing up in Bridgton. He was a poor student who eventually dropped out of school, making him feel “like a loser,” he said.

He worked as a mason for his father throughout his teenage years, after school, on weekends and during vacations.

“I never really had time to enjoy myself,” he said.

He told of a family that changed homes constantly – abnormally so – and of his parents’ arguments.

His mother would fly into jealous rages at home and in public, he said.

“She would just rip her clothes right off and expose herself; it was really embarrassing,” Hutchinson said choking on tears.

He said he always ended up playing the role of mediator between his parents, in an effort to control his mother’s tantrums so she would keep her clothes on.

Due to her outbursts, his family could never attend school events, he said.

He learned from his father to lay brick and became good at it, he said, providing the only sense of accomplishment in his life.

As Hutchinson was testifying, his father, Brad, sat in a back row in the courtroom, sniffling and attempting to control his emotions. At one point, a court officer gave him some tissues.

Eventually asked by Andrews if he was ready to talk about May 11, 1994, the night Perry was killed, Hutchinson said he wasn’t. His lawyer continued anyway.

When Hutchinson was 19 years old, he had gone to Perry’s home. He liked Perry, he said. She had invited him over, and they had consensual sex.

Coming out of her bedroom, he followed her down the hallway, he said. When the two reached the living room, he heard the screen door slam. Then the main door opened.

A man clad in a leather coat walked in. He was taller than Hutchinson.

Perry asked the man what he wanted.

“Where is it?” Hutchinson said the man asked her.

When Perry asked what “it” was, Hutchinson said the man replied: “Don’t mess with me. You know what I’m talking about.”

Perry told him to leave or she would call the police.

But he didn’t leave.

That’s when Hutchinson stepped toward the man, he said, taking two steps.

The man dropped a knife into his right hand. Hutchinson said he grabbed the man’s hand or arm and when the man pulled away, he sliced Hutchinson’s hand.

He took a step back. The man jabbed him in the left elbow with the knife, Hutchinson said.

He backpedaled, searching for a weapon. He looked in the kitchen sink, then reached for a drawer. The man struck him on the right side of his face, later producing a scar. Hutchinson turned to the left and the man struck him on the back of the head, “very hard.”

When he came to, he got up and saw the man “scootched down in front of (Perry.) He was stabbing her in the face,” Hutchinson said.

He was “hurt pretty badly,” he said, but mustered the energy to drop his shoulder and charge the man, slamming him with his body.

Then he saw Perry.

“Crystal was looking up at me, completely covered in blood. I ran, and I didn’t look back,” he said.

He drove home and cried all day, hurt and scared, he said.

He didn’t tell police, fearing he might be the man’s next victim.

“I feel ashamed for what I’ve done,” he said.

“Did you kill her?” his lawyer asked.

“No.”

Asked why he was ashamed, Hutchinson said: “I was there. I did nothin’.”

The state rested its case Thursday, after more than three days into the trial. The prosecution’s final two witnesses were Maine State Police detectives who interviewed Hutchinson about a year ago, shortly before he was charged with murdering Perry. Hutchinson had told them he didn’t know the woman and had never been to her home.

A Maine Crime Lab worker had matched Hutchinson’s DNA to sperm and blood left at the crime scene about 12 years earlier.

Hutchinson’s attorney suggested police ruled out the possibility that the person who had sex with Perry might not have killed her.

The defense is expected to resume presenting its case today after prosecutors cross-examine Hutchinson.