Defendant Johan Gillette left the witness stand Friday after hours of verbal jousting with a prosecutor who sought to punch holes in the self-defense claim Gillette hopes will spare him a murder conviction and a possible death sentence.

Gillette, 36, was on the stand the whole day as his trial on aggravated murder charges went into its 12th day.

Deputy District Attorney Stephen Morgan tried to put Gillette on the spot several times as he sought to re-create, almost blow by blow, the fight that left Gillette’s father dead and mortally wounded his father’s domestic partner.

In the end, Gillette said, he never meant any harm to come to Anne Dhu McLucas, his father’s longtime partner who died the day after the fight. But he said he didn’t regret killing his father in what he felt was a life-or-death situation.

“Am I sorry that I defended my life? No,” he calmly said.

Gillette’s father, James Gillette, and McLucas were found in the blood-spattered bedroom of their home on Needham Road just south of Eugene on Sept. 7, 2012.

Under direct questioning by defense attorney Dan Koenig, Gillette said the fight began after an escalating argument with his often-combative father. The two exchanged verbal jabs and, Johan Gillette said, he only laughed when his father threatened to kill him.

But then the older man threatened to kill Asia Seaton, Gillette’s girlfriend, and her cats. At that point, he said, he went into a kind of shocked survival mode.

“I just remember standing there in shock,” Gillette said. “I couldn’t move, like suddenly my body was three times as heavy.”

Gillette went on to testify that he saw his father reach for the gun he wore in a holster on his belt, and then the fight began. What happened next was the subject of intense questioning by both attorneys.

First, Gillette said he pushed his father back on the bed and used one hand to try to keep him from getting his gun and the other to start punching, although he said his blows seemed to have little effect.

Then, he said, he felt someone jump on him from behind. It was McLucas, but Gillette insisted that he didn’t know who it was at the time and was acutely focused on stopping his father from getting to his gun.

McLucas managed to pull Johan Gillette back and to his left, bringing him down to his knees on the floor, he said. He shook her off, he said, but while he was on the floor he reached for what he thought was a chair but came up with something else he described as being shaped “like a sno-cone,” wide at the top and tapering down.

Gillette said he didn’t know exactly what it was, but it is later described in a police affidavit as a wrench. It was never found, and Gillette testified that he doesn’t know what he did with it.

In the struggle that followed, Gillette acknowledged swinging the club or wrench at his father but still not feeling like his blows were connecting. He said his father kept trying to get into position to get his gun out.

The other person — McLucas — jumped on him again, Gillette said. This time he threw her back against some file cabinets and then struck her two or three times with the club before again turning back to engage his father, who still looked like he was trying to get his gun out, he said.

“At some point I saw blood,” Gillette said. “I remember thinking at some point I got shot.”

Thinking he probably was dead and only had seconds to stop his father from getting away and hurting Seaton, he struck at his father several more times, Gillette said.

He said his father now had his head toward the foot of the bed and was half on, half off. Despite the blows, Gillette said, it still didn’t feel like he was connecting and his father still was groping for his gun.

“He’s not stopping at that point, so I’m not stopping either,” he said.

At some point, Gillette said, he “sensed” the other person was sitting up. He said he turned, saw he was correct, and hit the person two or three times again, still not realizing it was McLucas.

Again he turned back to his father and swung at him until he stopped moving, Gillette said. Under questioning by Koenig, Gillette said he never intended to kill anyone.

“All I was trying to do was stop my dad,” he said.

After he saw he was no longer in danger, Gillette said, he staggered into an adjoining laundry room, where police later found a spray bottle containing bleach. He said he then went back in the bedroom and turned on a light.

That’s when he saw McLucas, and he just quit remembering, he said.

“I couldn’t believe whatever had happened also involved her,” Gillette said. “I just remember wanting to go away from all that.”

Morgan questioned Gillette’s account, pointing out that his father seemed to suddenly shift position at two points in Gillette’s story. Morgan also pointed out that when Gillette turned the second time to strike the person sitting up behind him he would have been almost face to face with McLucas, yet he still said he didn’t recognize her.

Gillette also testified that he was unable to remember much of what happened from the time he said he recognized McLucas until after he was interviewed by police many hours later. Gillette said he didn’t remember what he did with the weapon, although he said he had it in the bedroom but didn’t have it when he got to his own trailer about 60 feet away.

Glllette said Friday he didn’t remember spraying any bleach around the bedroom, although he acknowledged it could have happened.

“I suppose I could have,” he said. “I can’t say I didn’t do any spraying.”

McLucas’ clothes were heavily stained by bleach, and the clothes Gillette was wearing when he was arrested had a stain pattern similar to those on her clothes. Police have said they believe Gillette used bleach in an effort to destroy evidence.

Gillette also testified that he didn’t remember much of his interview with police. He never told police anything about a fight and in fact tried to suggest other people who might have wanted to harm his father, he said in response to questions from Morgan.

And he never called 911, sought help for McLucas or checked to see if she was dead, Gillette said. In fact she was not, although she died the next day at a hospital.

Gillette said he remembered that, after taking one look at McLucas, he was convinced she was beyond help.

“When I saw her lying there I knew she was dead,” he said.

The defense will continue calling witnesses when the trial resumes Tuesday.

Follow Greg on Twitter @gregbolt_RG. Email greg.bolt@registerguard.com.