Marcello Fracassi took the stand in his own defence Tuesday testifying he has a history of "weird blackouts" and recounting the moment of his 2014 arrest at his Alliston home.
"While they were handcuffing me an officer was saying 'You f***ing killed a man tonight. You f***ing killed a man tonight.' He was yelling it over and over," Fracassi told a Barrie court.
Fracassi is on trial for impaired driving and dangerous driving in the death of a Town of Alliston worker who was struck and killed while painting parking lines.
The 33-year-old self-employed painter and father of four has pleaded not guilty to all charges relating to the June 20, 2014 death of town worker Geoff Gaston, a married father and volunteer firefighter.
A sometimes emotional Fracassi told court how his last memory of a night out with his buddies was a brief conversation with a friend.
"I have a very quick memory of Brian asking me 'Are you good to drive?' and me saying yeah."
The next thing he remembered was his wife shaking him awake in bed and saying police were at the door.
An officer asked him if he was aware he'd been in an accident and Fracassi said he replied 'No.'
When he went outside to look at his truck, Fracassi said he saw the damage and the officer started reading him his rights.
"It was obviously bashed in...the passenger side front...the headlight was out...the hood was crumpled."
But Fracassi insisted he had no memory of returning home, despite telling police certain details upon his arrest
"I was trying to fill in the blanks of memory," he testified. "Trying to fill in the gaps."
"It felt like a nightmare. Like a dream. I just couldn't believe it was real."
Fracassi said he was under great stress in 2014, being the sole breadwinner and self-employed with a stay-at-home wife and four children to support.
He said he suffered depression and anxiety attacks that resulted in fainting spells which on three occasions saw him being rushed to hospital.
Under questioning from his lawyer, Fracassi testified he has a history of sleep walking from when he was a child, "weird blackouts where I don't remember anything" and occasions where he and wife would find "large amounts of urine in strange places" in their home.
"We just deduced that it must have been me," he testified.
He testified the cause of this behaviour is unknown despite being seen by numerous doctors.
Fracassi's lawyer intends to argue that on the night of the collision Fracassi was "sleep driving" and has a documented history of sleep disorders.
Court heard two of Fracassi's children sleep walk.
Fracassi said he told police he only had two beers on the night Gaston was killed because "he didn't know the law and was scared."
The father of four children aged 5 to 12 testified that he began secretly drinking gin almost every night in June 2014 from bottles he had hidden in the basement.
"As of June I'd progressed to drinking a third or half at a time, within a minute."
As Fracassi took the stand, the victim's widow abruptly left the courtroom in apparent disgust as the accused started to say that he was a Christian.
