Defendant testifies in murder trial

MIAMI (WSVN) -- A man accused of killing his ex wife's new husband took the stand in his own defense.

Cristobal Palacios took the stand for about an hour Wednesday, a week after his ex-wife Jennifer Winter gave tearful testimony against him. Palacios is accused of first degree murder in the shooting death of Paul Winter, back on Oct. 17, 2008.

In court, Palacios testified that he was not expecting his ex-wife and her new husband, Paul, to drop off their twins, so there is no way he could have planned to shoot and kill Paul.

Last week, Jennifer testified that Palacios shot and killed her husband in cold blood. Palacios said that night Paul got out of the car and charged towards him. He also said he thought he saw Paul reaching for a handgun, so he shot in self-defense. "He was coming at me so fast I didn't think I was gonna be able to pull the gun," Palacios said as he demonstrated what happened in court. "I threw some pebbles that were in my hand, and I said something like, 'What are you doing?' or 'What do you want?' He was coming so fast, I didn't think I would have enough time to pull the gun out, but as soon as I pulled it out, I started firing because I wanted him to stop and then I pulled it up and fired at him."

Palacios told the court he regretted what happened that night, but he had no other option.

The trial will resume after a short break Wednesday, and the State will later cross examine him.

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