PORTLAND (AP) – A 46-year-old Palmyra man who confessed to a killing in Portland 13 years ago said in a jailhouse interview that he acted in self-defense when he shot a hitchhiker during an altercation.

Stephen Cutting told WGME-TV that he gave William Greenwood a ride the night of April 30, 1995, and the two returned to Cutting’s house and smoked some marijuana. He said Greenwood turned belligerent, which prompted him to take a hunting rifle with him when he drove Greenwood to his home in Westbrook.

Cutting said the shooting took place after the two men got into a fight when he dropped Greenwood off along Warren Avenue. Greenwood’s body was found the next day, but the case remained unsolved.

Cutting was never a suspect and had never met Greenwood before he gave him a ride.

Had he kept the killing a secret, he could have gotten away with it for the rest of his life, he said. But instead, he told his ex-wife over the weekend, who then told authorities.

Cutting said he is ready to accept the consequences.