Donald Rolle slammed Jennifer Randel's head into a truck dashboard and kicked her, but only after she came at him with a knife during a fight, he told jurors Monday.

Rolle, 47, spent more than three hours inside a packed Natrona County District courtroom giving his version of the events surrounding Randel's death, from an argument at an Evansville bar to the discovery of her body by police the next day.

Wearing dress clothes for the first time in his two-week-old trial, Rolle at various times cried and cursed before jurors. He insisted he didn't intend for Randel, a woman he dated off and on again for several years, to die and said he attempted suicide when she did.

He also acknowledged he did nothing to save her when she slumped forward and vomited blood after his kick to her chest.

"I said to her I'd be coming right after her," he testified.

Rolle's testimony came on the 11th day of his murder trial. He is charged with kidnapping and murdering Randel, a 40-year-old mother of two, whose body was found inside his truck along a remote road west of Casper. She had been beaten and stabbed.

Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty.

Speaking in a quiet voice that wavered at times, Rolle recounted the night of Randel's death. The couple went on a date to Butch's Bar in Evansville and planned to go dancing later at the Beacon Club in Mills.

They arrived at Butch's around 8 p.m.and ordered drinks. Sometime into his first beer, Rolle said he heard the name "Rummel."

Rolle had suspected a man named Keith Rummel had slept with Randel. Rummel testified last week he and Randel were not having an affair.

Rolle confronted one man he thought was Rummel outside. He questioned him against a wall and did not leave him alone until the man used his driver's license to prove his identify.

Later, Rolle said he saw Rummel up at the bar and went for him.

"What did you intend to do?" defense attorney Vaughn Neubauer asked.

"Beat the f-- out of him," Rolle responded.

Rolle was thrown out of the bar and unsuccessfully tried to return inside. Other witnesses have testified that when Randel came outside, Rolle ordered her into his truck. He denied that allegation.

As the couple drove toward her home - in the Paradise Valley area - they argued about Rummel. Rolle said he decided to end the date.

"It was getting to the point that it was time to call it quits," he said.

Rolle's recollection

At some point on the drive, Rolle said Randel sat up and tried to wrestle with him over the steering wheel. He wrestled her away. She tried to go for the wheel again while he was trying to turn left from Zero Road onto Robertson Road.

In the confusion, they missed the turn. Rolle said he held Randel off and continued driving.

"There was hair pulled at that time," he said.

As he testified, several of Randel's friends cried in the first row of the courtroom. Some jurors took notes, while others leaned forward and appeared to be listening intently.

Rolle described a chaotic scene inside the truck, with Randel throwing things, grabbing at the wheel, and at one point, breaking a cell phone in two pieces. Authorities received a 911 call from Randel that night where she begged for help and said she was in Rolle's truck and couldn't get away from him. Rolle, however, said he wasn't aware she had called 911.

As the truck headed south on Robertson, Randel began kicking the windshield with her feet, he said. He tried to stop her by grabbing her by the hair and her jacket. Rolle admitted he grabbed her "rather aggressively," and pinned her down.

The fight inside the car continued for a time, but according to Rolle, Randel finally stopped throwing things and calling him names. As they approached a straightaway in the road, he felt a prick in his right ear. He looked and saw Randel with a knife he had last seen three days earlier in his glove box.

Rolle said he tried to grab the knife with his right hand and Randel pulled it away. He then grabbed her by the hair.

"I slammed Jennifer's head into the dash and pinner her arm," he said, adding that he continued to press her face down as she wrestled with him.

Rolle told jurors he saw the knife again and pushed her away with his right foot. She came forward again, so he kicked her in the chest in an effort to pin her against the passenger side of the truck.

"When Jennifer hit that side of the truck, she instantly went silent and made a gagging noise," he recalled.

When he removed his foot, Randel began to vomit blood and fell forward.

"I realized that is where Jennifer died," he said. "She expired right there in my lap."

The canal road

At that point, Rolle said he decided to kill himself.

Rolle drove down Poison Spider Road and eventually reached what attorneys call "scene two," an area along an irrigation canal that crosses Oregon Trial west of Casper.

There, he tried killing himself by slashing his wrists with a razor. But first he positioned himself underneath Randel's body.

He told jurors he remained at the scene from about 10 p.m. to 5:30 a.m., repeatedly slashing his wrists. At one point, he took Ibuprofen, believing it would cause him to bleed more.

Authorities later found cigarette butts with his DNA at the site. Rolle admitted he smoked cigarettes there.

Rolle said he eventually went to look for another place to hide. He stopped in another area and cut his wrists again. He moved on from that spot when he saw a sport utility vehicle.

Neubauer asked what he was hiding from.

"From anyone who could find me and stop what was going on," Rolle answered.

Rolle told jurors he planned to go to the nearby foothills of the Rattlesnake Mountains to hide the vehicle and finish killing himself. Before he got there, his truck got stuck in a ditch.

Later that morning, a rancher looking for a cow spotted the truck and asked Rolle if he needed help. Rolle declined, but the rancher contacted authorities.

Rolle said he planned to drink some antifreeze and other hazardous liquids in his truck, but authorities showed up before he could do it. He then strapped a knife to his hand, explaining that he hoped he would be killed by the officers.

The officers, using gas and bean-bag rounds fired from a shotgun, took Rolle into custody.

The trial continues today with more witnesses for the defense.

Reach crime reporter Joshua Wolfson at (307) 266-0582 or at josh.wolfson@trib.com.

Trial Tracker

Last we knew: The prosecution wrapped up its case in the Donald Rolle murder trial.

The latest: Rolle took the stand and told jurors his version of the events surrounding the death of Jennifer Randel.

What's next: Rolle's attorney will continue to present his defense today.

Last we knew: The prosecution wrapped up its case in the Donald Rolle murder trial.

The latest: Rolle took the stand and told jurors his version of the events surrounding the death of Jennifer Randel.

What's next: Rolle's attorney will continue to present his defense today.]]->