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The Rockville man accused of murdering a local athletic trainer took the witness stand Wednesday morning in his own defense and said he remembers holding the gun and the gun firing in his hand, but that he did not want to kill his friend, Jason David Hadeed.

Michael Wayne Adams, 45, said he was scared for his life when he fatally shot Hadeed, 33, in the King Farm neighborhood of Rockville last winter.

On the stand for five hours in Montgomery County Circuit Court in Rockville, Adams faced questions from both the prosecution and defense about the events surrounding Feb. 8, when three bullets entered the body of Hadeed, leaving him dead on the sidewalk.

"He forced his way in," Adams said. "When I opened the door he came through and started cussing me out."

Hadeed used words like "slime bucket" and "scum of the earth" and yelled threats at Adams, he testified.

Defense attorney Robert Bonsib has said Hadeed had a violent temper and contends that Adams was afraid for his life when he shot Hadeed, who had punched Adams twice and forced his way into the defendant's home to collect on an $18,000 gambling debt.

Adams said Hadeed punched him once or twice in the gut, knocking the wind out of him. Hadeed then picked up a laptop from the coffee table and wrapped it in its power cord, Adams said.

"Give me my laptop back," Adams testified that he told Hadeed.

Hadeed struck Adams with his elbow in the stomach hard enough to knock Adams backward, he told the jury.

"At that point I wanted him out of my house," Adams said. "He was rummaging and looking for stuff to take. I went over to the drawer in the kitchen because I had a gun there."

Adams said he yelled for Hadeed to get out of his house as he held the small pistol in his hand, but did not aim it.

"I was scared. I wasn't pointing it," he told the jury.

Adams said Hadeed saw the gun and asked, "You have a gun?"

"Get out, get out of my home," Adams said he answered.

This was when Hadeed came at Adams, he testified.

"I was afraid he would take the gun and shoot me," he said. "I reacted."

"How did you react?" Bonsib said.

"I don't know, but the gun went off," Adams said.

Adams said under cross-examination that Hadeed dropped the laptop by the door and moved into the front yard.

Adams said he followed Hadeed onto the front step. When asked by Assistant State's Attorney Stephen Chaikin why he followed him outside, Adams said he "just wanted [Hadeed] out of my house."

Adams said Hadeed charged at him again and began dancing evasively toward him and the gun went off twice more on the porch step. Hadeed then began to walk or run down the King Farm Drive sidewalk toward Rockville Pike until he collapsed, Adams said.

Adams said he walked over to Hadeed, who he said had not pleaded for his life as other witnesses had testified to hearing.

Adams said he was in such a state of shock about what had just happened that he wasn't even sure if Hadeed had been hit.

"I was scared," he said. "Very scared. I didn't know what to do, so I went to my mom's."

Adams' mother lives in Vienna, Va. He turned himself into police in Virginia several hours later.

Adams, dressed in khaki pants, a blue blazer and dark tie, spoke slowly and often hesitated before answering questions.

In cross-examination, Chaikin asked why Adams didn't lock the door and call 9-1-1 after Hadeed was outside.

In one of the few moments when Adams raised his voice, he said, "I could have done a lot of things, but until you're in fear for your life you don't know what you're going to do."

Chaikin asked if Hadeed's pestering Adams for money was annoying, and Adams said it was to a degree, but that he wanted to pay back Hadeed and everyone else whom he owed money.

Adams said his relationship with Hadeed had worsened over the past few weeks.

"He cared about me when I gave him things, but when I lost his money he didn't care about me at all," he said.

Adams was the only witness to take the stand on Wednesday.