PARIS — Surrounded by high-spirited relatives and friends outside Oxford County Superior Court on Tuesday, Agostino J. Samson enjoyed his first moments out of custody since March.

Samson traded in the suit and tie he wore at the trial for a more casual outfit and went to feel the grass outside the courthouse. Someone brought him a can of soda. He told reporters he would probably go to sleep when he returned home, but he was also considering taking a jog.

After slightly more than a day of deliberations, a jury of eight women and four men found Samson not guilty of the murder of Scott Libby, a 25-year-old landscaper. The jury also determined that Samson was not guilty of the lesser charge of manslaughter in the case.

“I felt confident,” Samson said. “This past week it’s been rough, but I felt confident.”

The jury began its deliberations late in the afternoon on Monday, following five days of testimony in which Assistant District Attorney Andrew Benson called 21 witnesses and defense lawyer Maurice Porter called 11, including two Maine State Police detectives whom Benson had previously questioned. The verdict was announced at about 4 p.m. Tuesday.

Samson, 23, was arrested at his grandmother’s home in Windham on March 4, following the discovery of Libby’s body on Feb. 20. Libby was found inside his car, which had been driven onto the railroad tracks off the Barker Road crossing in Bethel and struck by a train around 2:45 a.m. His death was declared a homicide after an autopsy determined that Libby died of blunt-force trauma and possible strangulation injuries to his head and neck that were inconsistent with the collision.

Prosecutor Benson had argued that Libby met with Samson in the hours before his death to return a watch and bracelet in exchange for repayment of a loan. Benson said the railroad crossing and bloodstains on Westwood Road were close to the Bethel Hostel, where Samson was staying at the time. He also argued that Libby’s DNA was found on the watch, a fingerprint of Samson’s was found on a bloodstained exterior door handle to the hostel, and an alcohol swab with Libby’s DNA and a minor DNA profile consistent with Samson was found in the hostel’s garbage.

Defense lawyer Porter responded that police had not gathered enough evidence to implicate Samson in the crime. He said thousands of people could match the unknown partial profile on the swab, that blood was not confirmed on the watch or the fingerprint.

Porter also criticized the Maine State Police investigation, saying they sought to implicate Samson without considering other suspects. He said investigators failed to pursue two unknown DNA profiles in Libby’s car that were inconsistent with Samson, and also did not thoroughly question other hostel guests or Libby’s acquaintances in the Boston area.

Relatives of Samson said after the verdict that they did not feel the state had presented a solid case.

“I kind of felt in my heart that they never had one bit of evidence that was credible that he was up around that scene. Nothing,” said Merrill Laskey, Samson’s uncle by marriage. “Some of the other folks were a little bit nervous about it, but I seemed to have a peace about the whole thing.”

“We always knew A.J. was innocent,” said Samson’s father, Agostino Paul Samson.

Samson said he was “blown out of my mind” that he was considered a suspect. He described Libby as a friend and employer.

“I wanted to go to his funeral, but I was told that I couldn’t, or shouldn’t,” Samson said.

He and members of his family expressed their condolences to Libby’s family and said they hope that his murderer will be brought to justice.

“It is a tragedy that he’s dead, but it is a blessing that the innocence of A.J. Samson has been established,” said Donald Larrabee, Samson’s grandfather by marriage.

“We really feel for the other family, because they lost their son,” said Agostino Paul Samson. “We’re in hopes that the state police will get back on their feet, do the correct job, and follow their leads, and find the people who did this murder. We all feel that way, our whole family.”

Libby, a graduate of Windham High School and Bentley College, owned a greenhouse and landscaping business in Raymond. He also worked as an accountant with H&R Block and on the weekends as a bartender in Cambridge, Mass.

Libby’s mother, Nancy Maynard, and several other family and friends of Libby declined comment as they left the courthouse. The family thanked those who supported them during the trial on a posting on a memorial Web site.

Joyce Long, minister at the Casco Village Church, said the verdict left family and friends of Libby’s family shaky.

“We just really feel like we’ve lost,” Long said. “Because we’ve lost him, and now we feel like we’ve lost an opportunity to feel that justice.”

Long described Libby as a loving, generous person with a promising future.

“I don’t see how anyone could take his life, because he was so full of life,” she said.

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Agostino Samson reacts after hearing his not guilty verdict by an Oxford County jury after more than a day of deliberation. Samson, 23, had been charged with killing his former employer, 25-year-old Scott Libby of Raymond, last February in Bethel.

Agostino Samson reacts after being found not guilty of murder by an Oxford County Superior Court jury, which deliberated for more than a day.

Agostino Samson reacts Tuesday after being found not guilty of killing his former employer, 25-year-old Scott Libby of Raymond.

Friends and family of murder victim Scott Libby wait outside the Oxford County Superior Courthouse as the jury deliberates Tuesday afternoon.