PARIS – Duane Christopher Waterman testified Monday at his murder trial that he went to the site of two West Paris killings last summer the day after they are believed to have occurred, but denied having any part in them.

The 33-year-old Sumner man took the stand in Oxford County Superior Court on the seventh day of his trial. He is accused of shooting 50-year-old Timothy Mayberry of West Paris and 43-year-old Todd Smith of Paris on the evening of July 25, 2008, at Mayberry’s home at 89 Tuelltown Road in West Paris.

Waterman admitted that he and his wife, Naomi, were involved with Mayberry in selling the painkiller OxyContin and small amounts of cocaine. He said he owed Mayberry $1,500 at the time of his death for failing to sell OxyContin pills in Machias.

On the morning of July 26, 2008, Waterman said he went to check on Mayberry and went into the house with his 13-year-old son through an open sliding-glass door.

“There was blood everywhere,” Waterman said. “At this point I was pretty freaked out.”

Waterman said he sold a .380-caliber handgun to Mayberry about two weeks before the killings to help pay off the debt, and noticed that the weapon was missing from the mantle where he had last seen it. He said he picked up his prescription drugs from the kitchen and left the home soon after.

On the evening of July 25, Waterman said he was fishing with his children until 3 or 4 a.m., returning briefly to his Sumner home to pick up propane for lanterns. Waterman’s son also said he had been fishing with his father on the evening of July 25, and that he had noticed a bloodstain in the kitchen when he went into Mayberry’s house with his father on July 26.

Under cross-examination by Assistant Attorney General Andrew Benson, Waterman said he did not call police after finding the bloodstains because he was afraid he could be implicated in the deaths or charged with other crimes. He criticized investigators, saying they had focused on him and told other people they interviewed that he was a suspect.

“If the investigation had done its job, they would have found a lot of people were after Tim for money,” Waterman said.

Waterman said he was “venting” to Naomi in several angry phone calls, which were recorded while she was incarcerated at the Oxford County Jail before the killings. He said he was upset with Mayberry because he was accusing Naomi of being a “rat” who might tell police about a false accident report involving Mayberry’s vehicle. Waterman said his threats toward Mayberry in the calls referred to his intent to assault Mayberry over the issue but not kill him.

“That would be stupid to say on a recorded phone call,” he said.

Waterman also admitted to telling Naomi on a July 26 visit at the jail that she would see Mayberry on the news and to tell investigators that she had sold the gun. He said he did so because he thought Mayberry had gotten hurt or hurt someone, and because he was worried that he would be arrested on a firearms charge if he was linked to the gun sale.

In his closing arguments, Benson said there were too many factors in the case linking Waterman to the crime to be coincidental.

Defense attorney John Jenness Jr. said the state had not proved its case against Waterman beyond a reasonable doubt.

Benson said Waterman’s testimony came after 10 months in which he was able to “conform his story to the evidence in this case.” He said Mayberry was afraid of Waterman, and questioned why Waterman would be concerned for Mayberry on the morning of July 26 when he made threatening statements about him on the evening of July 25.

“He’s not going back there to check on Tim Mayberry’s welfare,” Benson said. “He’s going back there to clean up.”

Benson said that investigators had concluded that the .380-caliber weapon purchased by the Watermans was used in the shootings, and that bullets found in the two bodies matched the type of bullets found at Waterman’s home. He also said that Waterman’s instruction to his wife about the gun sale came before he knew whether the gun had been involved in the incident or whether anyone had been killed.

Jenness said Mayberry was involved in a “dangerous lifestyle,” and that he would have had drugs and money in his house from selling pills from his OxyContin prescription. He referred to testimony by Ed McNally of West Paris on June 9. McNally said he heard what sounded like an argument while walking near Mayberry’s residence on July 24, and was later passed by two men in a red truck that had been parked at the residence.

“I suggest to you that there may well have been two different situations going on,” Jenness said.

He also argued that Waterman had an alibi for the night of the shootings. He said Waterman would not have returned to the scene if he had committed the crimes, and also would not have kept paperwork and ammunition related to the handgun.

Benson, in a brief rebuttal, said a different shooter would have been armed when they attacked Mayberry, and would not have used Mayberry’s own handgun. He said Mayberry would also not have had to buy a shotgun, as another witness testified, if he had bought the handgun from Waterman.

A jury of seven men and five women will begin deliberations at 9 a.m. Tuesday.