Yes, Luis Ramos Nunez-Calderon told Schuylkill County jurors at his murder trial Wednesday, he did stick a knife into his estranged girlfriend's neck on April 29, 2014.

But it was only because a masked and armed stranger who had sneaked into her Shenandoah house, knocked him unconscious and then forced him at gunpoint to cut her.The man then warned him to not tell anybody, and to take the blame for Wendy Contreras-Hernandez's death if he was arrested.If he failed to obey, the masked man said, he would kill Nunez-Calderon and his family.After the strange turn of events, Nunez-Calderon told jurors, he left the house, "scared and very nervous," and walked to a Burger King and asked two Spanish-speaking men for a ride to Hazleton. Refused, he walked to a nearby bar and asked the bartender to call him a taxi. He stayed there for a few hours, drinking six Heineken beers.A bar patron took him to Hazleton, where he bought a ticket for a van ride to New York City that evening. Once in the city, he went to a Bronx deli where he had worked, and shared a bite to eat and some beers with friends, "to take my mind off everything that happened," he said.He stayed overnight with his mother, and was arrested by U.S. Marshals the next evening.Surprise witnessIn an unexpected move Wednesday, Nunez-Calderon took the witness stand after Judge Cyrus Palmer Dolbin was sure he knew what he was doing in giving up his right to not testify.Through interpreters, Nunez-Calderon, who is from the Dominican Republic and does not understand or speak English, testified for about four hours.He testified he was never given his Miranda rights in Spanish before Pennsylvania State Troopers interviewed him in a Manhattan jail cell.He also said he told them right from the start he was "not in any condition" to be able to answer any questions.That contradicts the testimony of troopers Melissa Kyper and Eric Schaeffer, who said an interpreter at the Manhattan Court Center read him his rights in Spanish and showed him the printed version in Spanish. He signed the card, and then the troopers interviewed him for about 90 minutes.But Nunez-Calderon said during his testimony that his signature was forged. He said he did sign another paper, which was in English, after the interview.Kyper said there was no other paper.During the interview, the troopers testified, Nunez-Calderon answered questions without hesitation, describing how he and Contreras-Hernandez had argued and about how he cut her throat with a kitchen knife.Miranda cardNunez-Calderon said Wednesday he was afraid to tell the troopers about the masked man because he had threatened him and his family if he did.Further, he has an eye problem that prevents him from reading small type, so he could not have read the Miranda card anyway.District Attorney Christine Holman handed him the card and asked him to read it.Nunez-Calderon quickly brought the paper to about 8 inches from his face, then put it back down, saying he is unable to see print close to his eyes.Had he known what the card was, he said, he "never would have said anything without an attorney present."The troopers testified Nunez-Calderon never asked for a lawyer or asked any questions.Interpreter Adelis Acosta on Tuesday testified she read Nunez-Calderon his Miranda rights in Spanish, and showed him the printed card.Nunez-Calderon's storyA tear streaking his left cheek, Nunez-Calderon told the events of his last visit to Shenandoah in painstaking detail, details he did not mention during his interview with Kyper and Schaeffer, the troopers said.He described getting to Hazleton by bus from the Bronx, where he had been staying with his mother for several weeks. He and Contreras-Hernandez had an on-again, off-again relationship, although he called her his wife.One of his interpreters explained that referring to live-in partners as spouses is common in Latin America.On April 29, he arrived in Hazleton and called Contreras-Hernandez to pick him up.She did, they stopped for beer and arrived at her house at 518 W. Centre St. to find the front door unlocked.They put her beer in the refrigerator, and they went upstairs to their bedroom, he said. He drank his beer. She offered to play music on a computer in her daughter's room, but he said no because a neighbor had complained about loud music.They went downstairs so she could feed her dog,She sat on a chair near the front window. They talked about why she had left on April 5 without telling him.She said it was because of an argument they had. He said she should not have done that because he was worried.They then argued because Contreras-Hernandez told Nunez-Calderon she had a restraining order against him."I hadn't hurt her. I never touched her," Nunez-Calderon said.They argued, and he said she slapped him on the face.She then became scared, and got between a chair and the living room window. She tried to open the window, then tried to open the door. He grabbed her by the arm to take her up to the bedroom."I saw it like she really wanted to hurt me, " he said.Nunez-Calderon said she went upstairs while he stayed downstairs to make sure the door was locked so she couldn't leave and get him in trouble with the police.He came upstairs to find her jumping off a second-story porch. She hurt her leg in the fall, and he went out to help her back into the house, leaving the door open.As he had his arm around her waist and one of her arms over his shoulder, he tried getting her inside, but she clung to a porch railing.He bit her hand when she scratched his face, he said.He pulled her inside and, as he turned to lock the door, he was hit on the head from behind, he said.He lost consciousness, and when he came to, was dizzy, and didn't see anybody in the living room or connected kitchen.He started to go upstairs when he saw Contreras-Hernandez lying on the stairs, appearing lifeless. He said he was "hysterical, losing it. This was my wife and I loved her."He then saw a man, wearing a ski mask, dressed in black, and holding a small gun. The man ordered him to carry Contreras-Hernandez upstairs to the bathroom.But Nunez-Calderon said she was too heavy to lift, and he was ordered to drag her by her hair.Afraid of being shotTestimony by forensic pathologist Rameen Starling-Roney revealed Contreras-Hernandez was 5 feet 3 inches tall and weighed 107 pounds.Nunez-Calderon is 5 feet 11 inches tall and between 170-200 pounds, according to court documents.Once in the bathroom, he lay her on her back. She appeared to be lifeless, not breathing and without a pulse, Nunez-Calderon said.The man in black ordered him at gunpoint to go downstairs and get a knife, then sit on her and cut her throat.He did, afraid he was going to be shot.The man said that if he told anyone, he would kill Nunez-Calderon and his family.Nunez-Calderon said the knife broke when he put it into her neck. He then washed the knife and his hands because he couldn't stand the sight of blood.He covered her head with a blanket and threw the knife, which ended up on clothing, on the top shelf of her bedroom closet.Roney said there were two wounds to Contreras-Hernandez's neck on the left side.Her hands showed defensive wounds, including a nearly severed forefinger and cuts on other fingers.Nunez-Calderon said the man in black must have left the house, and he ventured outside, first to Burger King then the bar, then to Hazleton and New York.It was around the time he was walking around that Contreras-Hernandez's 9-year-old daughter came home from school and found her mother's body in a pool of blood.Holman asked him why he didn't call police as soon as the man left. Nunez-Calderon said he was afraid because of the threats, and didn't defend himself even when he had knives close by because the man held the gun on him from a distance.He also said he didn't know how to call police because he doesn't speak English.When asked why he didn't run to a borough store with Spanish speaking owners, he again said he was afraid.Holman asked why he didn't warn his family. He said, "At that time, I was distraught. Crazy. In a bad way."Was he not worried today about his family and himself being killed because he was now telling authorities about the man in black?"Of course I'm worried," he said.The trialNunez-Calderon is being tried on charges of criminal homicide, first and third degree murder, voluntary manslaughter, criminal trespass and aggravated assault. His trial began Monday.If convicted, he faces life in prison.Watkins on Wednesday successfully moved to have a charge of criminal trespass dropped because documents, including an application for welfare benefits and a joint checking account, proved he was a resident.Nunez-Calderon had moved in with Contreras-Hernandez on March 1, 2014, and moved out again one month and five days later.