Daniel Clay testifies Chelsea Bruck death was rough sex accident

MONROE COUNTY, Mich. (WJBK) - Disturbing testimony as the man accused of killing Chelsea Bruck takes the stand.

Daniel Clay described in detail his sexual encounter with Bruck the night she disappeared.

He didn't mean for her to die - that's what Clay told the court when he took the stand in his own defense Monday.

"People like to get choked sometimes during sex," he said. "I'm not a very conventional guy."

Clay testified to having choked Bruck at her request while having rough sex with the 22-year-old in the backseat of a car. It happened after they met at a Halloween party.

"I kind of realized she was going limp," he said. "I tried shaking her a little bit."

Clay later dumped the lifeless Bruck in the woods. Investigators found her body six months later in Ash Township.

An autopsy revealed Bruck died from blunt force trauma to the head.

"I know I'm the one who did it," Clay said. "I don't know about the injuries she sustained. I don't know how those happened."

But Clay did say Bruck hit her head on a door in the car. It was one of several details he never revealed to investigators.

The prosecuting attorney hammered Clay on the inconsistencies in his story, namely the lies he told Monroe County Sheriff Deputies.

Prosecutor: "You repeatedly told detectives that you arrived at the party at eight or nine in the evening, right?"

Clay: "That's what I thought."

Prosecutor: "That was a lie."

Prosecutor: "And then you told them you had no physical contact with Ms. Bruck that night, right?

Clay: "Yes"

Prosecutor: "You said that time and time again."

Clay: "I lied."

Prosecutor: "And those were all lies."

Clay: "That was a lie."

Prosecutor: "You did kill Chelsea Bruck didn't you?"

Clay: "Not on purpose."

Clay was arrested last summer for another crime but DNA evidence linked him to Bruck's death.

Closing arguments are set for Tuesday, and then jury deliberations.