Monday, May 21, 2012
By Betty Adams badams@centralmaine.com
Staff Writer
SKOWHEGAN — Daniel L. Fortune, accused of taking part in a predawn machete attack at the Pittston home of the Guerrettes on May 27, 2008, is on the witness stand this afternoon in Somerset County Superior Court.
He is testifying in his own defense, facing an array of charges, including aggravated attempted manslaughter, in connection with the attack.
Fortune told the jury that he hurt no one that morning, and he put all the blame on co-defendant, Leo R. Hylton, his former foster brother who already is serving a 50-year prison term after pleading guilty in the attack.
Fortune spent more than 90 minutes on the witness stand Thursday offering his version of events to jurors.
He said the two men went to the Guerrette home in Pittston to collect a drug debt and that he tried to leave when no one answered the door at the home.
Fortune testified he saw William Guerrette Jr. lying on the floor and bleeding. He said he hit him as he opened the door to the basement to escape.
"There's no way I was taking the blame because I didn't touch anybody," Fortune said.
On the stand he admitted stealing a safe from Guerrette home six months prior to the home invasion.
Attorney Pamela Ames was presenting the defense case, and Justice Michaela Murphy told jurors that testimony would conclude today.
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