S. Valley man testifies in own murder trial

FRESNO, Calif.

27-year old Miguel Enciso is on trial for killing his girlfriend's ex-husband, then burning his body in a Fresno County orchard.

On Tuesday, jurors saw the suspect himself demonstrate how he choked the victim, though the suspect claimed he was not trying to kill him.

27-year old Miguel Enciso demonstrated to the jury how he wrapped his arms around victim Jose Dominguez's neck.

Enciso claims he was not trying to kill the victim when he snuck into his house and attacked him in the dark back in June 2010.

He said he was only there to try to fight with the victim to get his girlfriend's car back.

Enciso took the stand in his own murder trial, which is nearing its end.

He's accused of killing Jose Dominguez, the ex-husband of his girlfriend Flor Mayra Perez, then setting his body on fire in a Fresno County orchard.

Detectives were able to track down Enciso and Perez after they found a gas canister with a store tag on it left at the scene of the victim's body.

On Tuesday jurors saw surveillance video of Enciso and Perez laughing and smiling as they were walking down a Dinuba Walmart shopping aisle and then purchasing the gas canisters and other items.

Enciso told his attorney in court today that he was only pretending to act normal.

"There was a lot of confusion and I thought when I got out of the car I felt that everybody was staring at me. They knew what just had happened," he told the court.

Enciso also confirmed to prosecutors that just a few days before the murder he and Perez got tattoos with each other's names on them. Pictures of the tattoos were shown to jurors in court.

Enciso's trial is expected to continue after the Thanksgiving holiday. Perez's trial is expected to begin in December.

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