Edward Taylor took the stand in his murder trial Thursday and insisted he went to Mark Fisher's home to confront, rather than kill, the man his wife had sex with.

During more than two hours of sometimes emotional testimony, Taylor described shooting Fisher to death on April 1. He also recalled how his marriage crumbled in the weeks leading up the shooting.

"I couldn't let her sleep around on me," he said. "If I didn't react to her having an affair, she wouldn't stop."

Taylor, 42, told jurors that he never chose to kill Fisher, even though he admitted to blasting his way into Fisher's home carrying a loaded 12-gauge shotgun and .45-caliber pistol.

"It just happened," he said.

Fisher's body was found inside his central Casper home about 6:30 p.m. on April 1. He had been shot in the chest and head.

Taylor is charged with first-degree murder. Prosecutors have tried to show he set out to kill Fisher a few weeks after learning of his wife's infidelity. Taylor's attorneys have suggested the shooting was done in the heat of passion, sparked by the infidelity and taunting from his wife.

Minutes before the shooting, Taylor confronted his wife, Beth Taylor, in front of the Casper police station. He testified that when the incident was over, she walked by him, said "excuse me," and made a gesture with her wrist, "like I was some kind of fairy or some kind of thing.

"I think that's coming from Mark Fisher," Taylor said. "Beth knows I'm not a fairy."

Tense courtroom

Taylor's testimony came on the fourth day of his trial, which is expected to go to the jury today.

If convicted of first-degree murder, Taylor would receive a life sentence. A manslaughter conviction would mean up to 20 years in prison.

More than 30 onlookers, including family members of both Taylor and Fisher, listened to the testimony. The mood was unusually tense.

Some of Fisher's family walked out as Taylor, who wore jeans and a collared shirt, described the shooting. At another time, the judge scolded Taylor's supporters for making comments during the testimony.

Taylor, who grew up in Kaycee and served in the Marines, detailed his relationship with Beth Taylor, which began in December 1992. He said the couple married in 1993 or 1994, but couldn't recall the exact date.

Problems in the relationship began about 2003. He might have been too involved in work, he said.

In October 2004, Beth Taylor told her husband that she didn't know if she loved him, he testified.

Four days later she stopped coming home and the next month, the couple divorced, he said. However, the couple kept in contact and Taylor testified that he never felt like the marriage was over.

In April 2005, the Taylors got back together, although they didn't marry again until July 2006. The following March, Taylor said he began to suspect his wife was having an affair.

She traveled to Guernsey for work and declined to return when the family dog had to be put down, Taylor said.

"I was surprised," he said. "I thought she would want to come home."

Beth Taylor testified that she has sex with Fisher only once - on the Guernsey trip.

Taylor testified his wife teased him about her relationship with Fisher, a 48-year-old divorced father of two grown children. One time he was playing with the couple's puppies when his wife walked in and started talking about Fisher's dog, he said.

"I got the impression I'm not good enough," he said.

In March the Taylors were sleeping in separate rooms, and during the middle of the month, Edward Taylor filed for divorce. Still, he continues to have feelings for his wife.

"I do love Beth, even now," he said.

Taylor said he knew three weeks before the shooting that his wife was cheating on him with Fisher. Under cross-examination by District Attorney Michael Blonigen, he acknowledged feeling angry and hostile toward Fisher.

Trips to Fisher's

On the day of the shooting, Taylor drove to Fisher's home, a shop on North Kenwood Street, five times, according to his testimony. He first drove by before noon looking for his wife, who was visiting family in Cheyenne, but due to return that day. She wasn't there and he drove back to his home on Coffman Avenue.

Taylor said he drank some beer and tried to figure out a way to save his marriage.

He drove by Fisher's home again about 2:30 p.m. to see if his wife had shown up. She hadn't, but he saw Fisher outside talking on his cell phone.

"He turned around, his smile went away and he looked at me with disdain," Taylor said.

Blonigen asked the defendant why he hadn't tried talking to Fisher then.

"I wasn't willing to go in and talk to him," Taylor responded.

Taylor went home again, he said, where he drank three beers and some tequila. He drove back to Fisher's home after 4 p.m. and found Beth Taylor had arrived.

Edward Taylor went home again. Then about 6 p.m. he returned again to Fisher's and pulled into an alley.

Beth Taylor, who earlier testified she had been watching NASCAR with Fisher, came out of the shop. She got into her pickup and pulled up near to where Taylor was. Taylor said she cursed at him and demanded to know what he was doing there. He asked her the same question.

Using his hands to demonstrate for the jury, he described grabbing his wife's head and turning it toward him, then lifting up her eyelid with his thumb. He denied pulling her head into the truck's window, as Beth Taylor had earlier testified.

She drove to the police station and he followed her. She testified earlier that once he arrived, her husband pointed his .45-caliber pistol at her. He said he doesn't remember doing that.

"I had my .45 in my pants," he said. "I pulled it out, I pointed it at my head and I threatened to kill myself," he said.

Taylor put away the gun. Before leaving, he told his wife, "I was going to kill somebody," he testified.

The shooting

For the final time that day, Taylor drove back to Fisher's home. Fisher had locked the front door, so Taylor used two shotgun blasts to open it.

He went through an entryway and another door, heard a shot and threw himself back, he said. Fisher, investigators would later determine, used his own shotgun to fire a round of birdshot at Taylor. The shot struck Taylor in the face, and damaged his right eye.

Taylor, who testified that he got just a glimpse of Fisher, told jurors he held his shotgun away from his body and fired in Fisher's direction.

"I didn't have time to aim at him," he said.

When he looked again, Fisher was on the floor. Fisher was shot a second time in the head at close range, but Taylor said he doesn't remember firing that shot.

Afterward, he drove away, and Taylor said he contemplated killing himself before driving to a friend's house in Kaycee. A little while later, he turned himself in.

Reach Joshua Wolfson at (307) 266-0582 or at josh.wolfson@casperstartribune.net.