Charlie Reynolds, facing murder charges after beating his friend Joshua Skare to death with a softball bat, testified Tuesday during his Dakota County trial that he never intended to kill Skare.

Wearing a pale green shirt with khaki pants, Reynolds testified for hours Tuesday, sighing frequently and choking up as he recalled the events that led him to beat Skare, his friend of 15 years, with a softball bat.

"I believed he was going to go upstairs and get into my bed and try and rape my wife. And then he shoved me," Reynolds said, thrusting his arms forward.

Reynolds, 32, of Lakeville, is charged with first-degree murder with premeditation, second-degree murder with the intent to kill, second-degree murder without intent to kill while committing a first-degree assault and second-degree murder while committing second-degree assault.

The two had been drinking and playing a Wii bowling video game after an evening with friends at an ultimate fighting contest at Canterbury Park on March 15. They stopped playing about 3:40 a.m., and Skare was to spend the night on the couch in the living room.

Reynolds testified that Skare left the living room three times, entering the upstairs bedrooms of Reynolds and of his young daughter while they slept. Each time, Reynolds said, Skare grew more aggressive, cursing and speaking in a "menacing" tone, as Reynolds escorted him back downstairs.

It was on the third trip downstairs, Reynolds said, that Skare shoved him into a banister near the stairs of the split-level Lakeville townhouse. Reynolds testified that he does not remember going downstairs to grab the softball bat, but that he saw Skare, who was about 5 inches taller and at least 50 pounds heavier, standing at the top of the stairs when he returned.

Reynolds said he hit his friend two times and then three times. Then, Reynolds said, he called 911, though he doesn't remember doing so. Skare, 33, was dead when emergency personnel arrived shortly after 6 a.m.

Prosecutor Kevin Goldem took issue with Reynolds' spotty recollections, questioning how Reynolds can testify about his intent when he doesn't remember what happened.

"You keep telling us that you don't remember," Goldem said. "So which is it? Do you remember or don't you?"

Throughout the trial, the prosecution and defense have agreed that Reynolds struck Skare with the bat. But they have disagreed about whether he swung to kill.

"I certainly did not want Josh to die," Reynolds said.

Katie Humphrey • 952-882-9056