AUBURN – A Lewiston man testified Wednesday that he saw Brandon Thongsavanh fatally stab a Bates College student.

Nate Tao was the first person in the murder trial in Androscoggin County Superior Court who actually witnessed the stabbing of Bates lacrosse captain Morgan McDuffee, 22, last March in Lewiston.

Thongsavanh, 20, is accused of jumping into a street brawl with a folding knife and stabbing McDuffee five times.

Tao, who broke down on the stand, admitted changing his story but insisted he saw McDuffee stabbed repeatedly.

A medical examiner testified that McDuffee was stabbed once in the chest, twice in the abdomen and twice in the back.

Michael Blakemore, a medical technician who tended to McDuffee, said the victim was struggling when he arrived on the scene. “Unfortunately the wound to his heart was too great,” he said outside court.

Defense lawyer William Maselli contends it was a confusing scene and that many of the witnesses were drunk or high on drugs.

Maselli said Thongsavanh will decide later whether he will testify in the trial, which is expected to continue into next week.