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AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — A 20-year-old man on trial in the slaying of a University of Texas freshman on campus in 2016 has taken the stand and denied killing her.
Defense attorney Ariel Payan on Wednesday asked Meechaiel Criner: "Mick, did you kill Haruka Weiser?" Criner replied: "No, sir."
Criner also testified that he had never seen her.
Weiser, an 18-year-old dance major from Portland, Oregon, was walking to her dormitory after leaving a rehearsal when she was strangled and sexually assaulted.
Criner, a 17-year-old foster care runaway at the time of the killing, is charged with capital murder. He faces a sentence of life in prison if convicted.
Prosecutors have said items belonging to Weiser were found at places where Criner was staying. In his testimony, Criner described taking items from trash bins.
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