Defendant continues testimony in ND murder trial

FARGO, N.D. (AP) — An Oklahoma City man charged with killing a Fargo dentist in an alleged murder-for-hire scheme says he wasn't asked to kill Philip Gattuso and wasn't even in the city the day Gattuso died.

Michael Nakvinda on Wednesday continued to testify in his trial in North Dakota state court on a charge that he killed Gattuso in October 2009. Authorities say Gattuso's former father-in-law, Gene Kirkpatrick, paid Nakvinda $3,000 to kill Gattuso.

Kirkpatrick says he and Nakvinda talked about getting rid of Gattuso but never agreed to do it. Nakvinda says he was framed.

Nakvinda testified Wednesday that he drove to a town 50 miles south of Fargo to pick up a Porsche for Kirkpatrick about the time Gattuso was killed.

Police say Gattuso's Porsche was stolen the day he died.

Tags: murder, crime, fargo, news, gattuso, nakvinda, kirkpatrick