Testimony from the defendants on trial for the murder of Christopher Zuniga

FRESNO, Calif (KFSN) -- Richard Escalon and Marcos Gonzales are on trial for the murder of Christopher Zuniga. The final battle began in the basement, a place Escalon called a "meth dungeon", and it started over a bogus check Zuniga tried to deposit in Escalon's bank account.

"Marc was mad at the issue of the check," said Escalon. "So he was mad that I... the check, so we both had to leave the house."

Gonzales claims he was supposed to be house sitting, but he invited several people to stay there and use drugs. When he had Escalon try to kick Zuniga out of the house over the check, he says Zuniga turned into a beast and started throwing punches.

"I just seen black," said Gonzales. "Boom, boom boom, he hit me. I don't know how many times he hit me, but I almost fell."

Gonzales admits he grabbed a baseball bat and hit Zuniga once, but he didn't want to admit Zuniga was unarmed.

"He was bombing on me," said Gonzales when asked if Zuniga had a gun. "He was socking me. I was seeing black stars and lights, dude."

Gonzales never mentioned an attack by Zuniga when police interviewed him after his arrest, and his mug shot shows no apparent injuries. He says the mug shot was taken after he healed, and he claims investigators just wanted him to rat out Escalon, so he didn't give them the real story.

"He (the interviewing officer) should've just said 'tell me the truth' instead of 'throw Richard Escalon under the bus'," said Gonzales.

Escalon admits he delivered the death blow. He says he found a knife and stabbed Zuniga once, but only as Zuniga charged at him as well.

Both defendants say Zuniga then stumbled upstairs and died without either of them touching him there. At least two other witnesses said they saw Gonzales hit Zuniga with a bat upstairs and they thought Escalon stabbed him there as well.

Closing arguments will come later this week.