AUBURN – The teenager charged in the fatal stabbing of a Bates College lacrosse player goes on trial today just a few miles from the tranquil campus that remains scarred by Morgan McDuffee’s death.

Brandon Thongsavanh, the 19-year-old Lewiston resident accused of murdering McDuffee during a late-night melee last March, appeared in Androscoggin County Superior Court on Monday as jurors were selected in the case.

During previous court appearances, Thongsavanh’s shaved head displayed tattoos of horns. This time, with his hair grown out, the tattoos were not visible.

Thongsavanh’s attorney, James Maselli, said prosecutors plan to call three witnesses who say they saw the defendant stab McDuffee, 22.

A prosecution list of 78 potential witnesses in the case includes Chad Aube, a Lewiston man mentioned in a police report as pointing the finger at Thongsavanh.

Also on the list of potential witnesses are McDuffee’s girlfriend, Suzanne Andrew of Portland, and his younger brother Dylan, both of whom witnessed the fight.

Testimony will focus on an early morning street fracas on March 3, 2002, between a group of Bates students and several local youths after a party at McDuffee’s off-campus apartment.

Words were exchanged and the chance encounter quickly turned violent, according to police.

Thongsavanh, the son of a cook in a Bates student dining hall, is accused of stabbing the captain of Bates’ lacrosse team in the stomach.

Thongsavanh, who is being held without bail at the Androscoggin County Jail, maintains his innocence, Maselli said, adding that a number of possible alternative scenarios for McDuffee’s death should come to light at the trial.

Meanwhile, on the Bates campus in Lewiston, students said they have tried to move beyond last March’s slaying, the first murder of a student in the school’s 148-year history.

“It just sort of feels like the whole thought of it has slipped from a lot of people’s minds, but the trial is bringing it back up,” said Aaron Baker, a 19-year-old sophomore.

Celeste Branham, the college’s dean of students, said several Bates students are expected to testify at the trial.

“For a lot of students, I think they’re reliving the horror of this event through the trial,” she said. “But it’s a necessity.”

Opening statements are expected to begin at 9 a.m., followed by a trip to Main Street in Lewiston to show jurors the crime scene.