HAVRE -- Anthony Roy St. Dennis, the Missoula man accused of killing a homeless Navy veteran, made numerous admissions about committing the crime in a taped telephone conversation from jail, at times even laughing and bragging about the random attack.

"I'm really ... in it. I'm a murderer," St. Dennis says in the expletive-riddled recording. "I just freaked out."

A Hill County jury heard the recording Thursday afternoon as prosecutors offered their final and perhaps most incriminating piece of evidence. Missoula County Attorneys Fred Van Valkenburg and Suzy Boylan rested their case immediately after playing the recording.

St. Dennis, 19, is on trial for the felony offense of deliberate homicide in connection with the fatal attack on Forrest Clayton Salcido, whose body was discovered the morning of Dec. 6, 2007, near the California Street footbridge in Missoula. A co-defendant in the case, 21-year-old Dustin Strahan, also is charged with homicide and is scheduled to stand trial in March.

The phone conversation was played for jurors over the objections of defense attorneys. The call took place one day after St. Dennis' arrest, and he was talking to a girlfriend, Jackie Adams, who earlier this week testified that the call had indeed taken place.

"For some reason this is very funny to me now and I can't stop thinking about it," he says during the call. "I think the only reason why I'm happy and ... being ... ignorant, you know, being proud for what I've done, is my life is already over right now. I'm already sitting here. I can't leave. Honestly, I'd be like invisible man and turn ... invisible right now and walk out. But I can't do that."

Public defenders Chris Daly and Paulette Ferguson called two witnesses to testify on Thursday before resting their case. Prosecutors called 30 witnesses.

Jurors will begin deliberations Friday after closing arguments, and must now consider the testimony of defense witness Dr. Thomas Bennett, a private pathologist who said the 56-year-old victim died from a variety of contributing factors, including exposure to the elements and alcohol intoxication.

Bennett testified that, while Salcido had clearly experienced trauma from an attack, the injuries were not fatal.

"People survive strokes where there's far more damage than this," he said.

Bennett's testimony contradicted that of Dr. Gary Dale, medical examiner for the state of Montana.

"In my opinion, Mr. Salcido died as a result of homicidal violence which included blunt force trauma to the head, and the manner of death is homicide," Dale said.

Dale told the jury that, while he couldn't exclude hypothermia as a potential cause of death, injuries from the assault incapacitated the man, causing severe brain damage.

"Either way it's homicidal violence that got him to that point," Dale said. "This was not a concussion. This was severe structural damage to the brain."

The co-defendant Strahan testified Wednesday that St. Dennis stomped on Salcido's head at least 10 times and perhaps as many as 20 times.

But defense attorneys hope that the jury will consider lesser offenses of aggravated assault, negligent homicide or accountability to deliberate homicide when they begin deliberating Friday.

Jurors will receive instructions first thing in the morning before both sides deliver closing arguments. Lawyers may take as long as they need to make those arguments.

St. Dennis has for the most part been silent during his trial, and did not testify in his defense. As he left the courtroom Thursday evening, he looked over his shoulder and asked his family to pray for him.

In the recorded phone call, St. Dennis tells Adams that he anticipates a prison sentence of 18 years with four years suspended, and says he'll pass the time lifting weights and doing push-ups. He tells the woman that he looks forward to being reacquainted with his father, Roy St. Dennis, who is serving a prison term for negligent vehicular assault.

"I want to be with my dad. That's the only reason I want to go to prison in the first place," according to the recorded conversation.

Fourth Judicial District Judge John Larson is presiding over the case, which was moved to Havre after defense lawyers argued successfully that media coverage of the homicide was biased and inflammatory, making it impossible to choose a fair and impartial jury in Missoula.

Reporter Tristan Scott can be reached at 523-5264 or at tscott@missoulian.com.