CARIBOU (AP) – A judge who’s deciding the fate of Christopher Shumway must sort through conflicting testimony over the defendant’s mental state when he attacked his supervisor at a Tim Hortons coffee shop and then continued to serve customers as she was left to die in the employee bathroom.

The defense contends Shumway was not criminally responsible for his actions because he was psychotic and something threw him into a rage. But prosecutors contend he knew right from wrong when he killed Erin Sperrey on Jan. 2, 2005.

The case resided with Justice E. Allen Hunter after prosecutors and the defense gave their closing arguments Friday in Aroostook County Superior Court. The judge gave no timetable for issuing his verdict.

The mental state of Shumway, 20, of Caribou, was the key issue during the trial. The defense contended Shumway suffered from mental illness and sexual abuse, and the judge was told that Shumway binged on alcohol and drugs before the killing.

Defense lawyer Brad Macdonald contends Shumway was psychotic and that something threw him into a rage on the night of the killings.

Two prosecutors told the judge that Shumway’s mental and substance abuse problems didn’t preclude him from knowing right from wrong.

Shumway, who’s charged with murder, robbery and gross sexual assault, is accused of attacking Sperrey in the coffee shop’s walk-in cooler and in the employee bathroom. Then he left her on the floor of the bathroom as he continued to serve walk-in and drive-through customers.

Afterward, Shumway stuffed Sperrey’s lifeless body in her car and drove south for 120 miles until he spun out on Interstate 95 in a snowstorm. He abandoned the body and the car, and hitched a ride to a Bangor motel, where he was arrested the next day.

At some point, Shumway allegedly sexually assaulted Sperrey. DNA from semen swabbed off Sperrey’s body was consistent with Shumway’s, experts testified.

It is also alleged that at some point after leaving the restaurant Shumway stopped the car, undressed the lifeless Sperrey and molested her.

Ronald Brown, a psychologist who evaluated Shumway for the defense, testified Thursday that Shumway suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder from sexual abuse he’d suffered at the hands of a family member before he moved to Maine.

Shumway also suffered from severe depression, a substance abuse disorder, anti-social personality disorder, and an unspecified psychotic disorder, Brown said, as well as being a sexual deviant.

On the night of the killing, Sperrey chastised Shumway for being in the cooler getting bread instead of being out front, Brown said. During the confrontation, Sperrey apparently made reference to Shumway’s incestuous sexual abuse, he said.

“There was a sudden descent and loss of awareness when Erin Sperrey reminded Mr. Shumway of (being sexually abused),” Brown testified. “He suffered a loss of control, his anger rose to a rage, and he was unaware of his actions.”

Brown’s testimony contradicted a psychologist and psychiatrist who testified for the prosecution that Shumway was not psychotic and that he knew right from wrong.

The victim’s family has said that Shumway had a crush on Sperrey and had asked her out on dates several times before he killed her. Witnesses said he also talked of stealing money to allow him to return to Massachusetts where he grew up.

AP-ES-07-14-06 1424EDT