The third day in the murder trial for Mark White got under way this morning in Walker County Superior Court in LaFayette.

White is charged with the murder of William Dillard III of LaFayette in July 2009, along with two counts of aggravated assault and two counts of possession of a knife.

Dillard and White had been arguing over a bottle of liquor, according to LaFayette public safety director Tommy Freeman.

White called authorities following the altercation and “coherently confessed to the murder on the scene and went quietly,” Freeman said.

White is being represented by public defender David Dunn.

In court Tuesday district attorney Herbert “Buzz” Franklin reviewed autopsy photos with Dr. Eric Eason, medical examiner with the Georgia Bureau of Investigation. Eason conducted the autopsy on Dillard.

Dillard was stabbed in the abdomen and chest. The wound to the chest measured 9.5 inches deep.

“He died from blood loss due to it hitting the heart,” Eason said.

Eason showed the angle and orientation of the stabs wounds on a mannequin before the jury.

Franklin showed a serrated ginsu knife measuring 8.2 inches, which Eason explained was possible because “the body is compressible,” Eason said.

Public defender Dunn addressed Dillard’s blood-alcohol level, listed in the toxicology report, on cross examination. Eason said “there are many factors that could have raised it,” including decomposition of the body due to a delayed autopsy and the second stab wound which severed the small intestine.

Marilynn McNair, Dillard’s aunt, took the stand next.

She had seen Dillard on the night of his murder and left her cell phone with her nephew that evening.

She testified to receiving, after the incident, two messages from White. The first was erased accidentally by McNair. The second was retrieved by the LaFayette Police Department and played for jurors by Franklin.

The message was a expletive-laden warning to McNair regarding her nephew, along with accusations of stealing alcohol. McNair’s home is in close proximity to White’s home, where the alleged murder took place.

During the message White threatens, “I’ve got a ginsu knife.”

Dunn clarified part of the message for jurors.

“If he comes up to my house again, I am going to gut him,” Dunn recounted to the jurors from the message left on McNair’s phone.

Detective Robert Tate of the LaFayette Police Department testified about the interview with White following the 1 a.m. stabbing on July 24.

Tate described the “continuous interview process” that lasted from 4:15 a.m. to 7:15 a.m. at the Police Department.

Dunn had Tate read the interview summary of White’s statement, pointing out to jurors that it took only eight minutes to read the entire statement.

In the interview White said Dillard “kept coming at me — every time he did I ran.” White said Dillard lunged at him twice, resulting in the stab wounds. “He killed himself,” White said later.

District attorney Franklin rested his case at 4:15 p.m. on Tuesday.

Dunn sought a direct acquittal, which was denied by Judge Kristina Cook Connelly.