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WASHINGTON, Pa. - The fate of a Donora man accused in the bludgeoning deaths of two Donora residents...in 2007 is now in the hands of a Washington County jury.

After 2 1/2 days of testimony, Washington County Assistant District Attorney Michael Lucas rested his case Thursday afternoon against Eugene Joseph Nagy....

Nagy, 30, is accused of using a two-by-four wooden board to kill Vince Trotta, 47, and Yvonne Helton, 40, sometime in the early morning hours of Sept. 11, 2007. The murders allegedly took place in Trotta's small apartment above Phat Dawgs Bar and Grill, 1025 Meldon Ave., Donora.

The trio had spent the evening of Sept. 10 engaging in drug use, sex and drinking....Investigators believe Nagy stole about $1,900 that Trotta had just earned from a construction job,...left the apartment after the murders and went to a friend's house to buy and use crack cocaine.

Testimony Thursday...focused on Nagy's whereabouts after midnight on Sept. 11...and forensic evidence - including...a blood-stained wooden board found near the apartment.

State Trooper Joseph Panepinto, the lead investigator, testified that police obtained...cellular phone records that show Nagy made numerous calls from his...phone to Robert Hardison, of Donora, throughout the evening on Sept. 10 and after 1 a.m. Sept. 11.

Hardison previously testified Nagy wanted him to arrange to buy him crack cocaine. Panepinto testified...that phone records show Nagy used his phone extensively by calling Hardison throughout the evening, but Nagy stopped taking calls from 12:21 a.m. until about 1 a.m.

Police believe the murders occurred during that time.

Nagy's live-in girlfriend, Stephanie Huweart, had been trying to contact him in the early morning hours as well, and didn't reach him until 1:50 a.m.

Hardison testified that aftter 1 a.m., Nagy went to his home, which was located about two blocks from Phat Dawgs. Hardison and Nagy...smoked crack cocaine and attempted to buy more drugs until at least 3:30 a.m.... Hardison testified he saw no blood on Nagy, but that Nagy asked him not to tell police they were together.

...The jurors also heard testimony from Michelle Barch, a technician at the state police crime lab in Greensburg....

Barch testified she investigated the crime scene and took samples of blood spatter where Trotta and Helton were found nude, laying in pools of blood on the bed.... She said the large volume of blood was limited to the bedroom.

Jurors saw graphic photos of the victims' taken at the crime scene.

Barch said a baseball cap and Nike sandals Nagy was wearing the night of the murders did not test positive for blood. Panepinto said a pair of blue jeans Nagy claimed he wore the night of the murders...had been laundered and could not be tested for blood evidence.

Forensic scientist Sabine Panzer Kaelon, of the Greensburg crime lab, testified she tested two sections of the broken, wooden board for DNA samples.

Kaelon said the 28-inch section of the board...had...blood that matched the victims' DNA. On the unbroken end of the board, Kaelon testified it had a partial profile matching Nagy's DNA. She said the 13-inch long section of the board contained neither blood nor DNA evidence.

Panepinto testified that he received voluntary DNA samples from Nagy, Trotta's estranged wife Mary,...Hardison and Helton's former boyfriend and fiance....Mary Trotta had been at the apartment earlier in the evening with Trotta and Nagy. Kaelon said none of their DNA matched samples on the evidence.

While defense attorney Dennis Paluso did not call witnesses, he said during his closing statement that, despite presenting 116 pieces of evidence, the prosecution failed to prove Nagy's guilt.

Paluso said Nagy lied to investigators because he was trying to conceal both drug use and his whereabouts to his girlfriend....

He said Nagy's partial DNA was found on the board because Nagy worked construction jobs for Trotta on the weekends.

Paluso said there were unidentified fingerprints and DNA on evidence collected by state police. He said...the prosecution's witnesses and evidence favored Nagy.

"There was blood spatter on the walls, blood on the bed, and yet none on my client," Paluso said. ...

Paluso said state police charged Nagy prematurely -...before they received DNA...test results. He...suggested Nagy's Oct. 30, 2007, arrest for the murders coincided with a re-election bid by former Washington County District Attorney John C. Pettit.

Lucas refuted Paluso's claims in his closing statement, telling the jury the state police conducted a "tedious and painstaking" investigation before arresting Nagy.

Lucas said the amount of money Nagy had on him on the days that followed the murders didn't make sense. He said telephone records and forensic evidence...place him at the crime scene.

"He can't account for that time period, it all went silent," Lucas said. "Where was he?"

Nagy is charged with two counts each of first-degree murder, robbery, tampering with evidence and one count of theft by unlawful taking. The jury began deliberating at 4:30 p.m. At the jury's request, President Judge Debbie O'Dell Seneca excused the panel around 6 p.m.

The jury was expected to resume deliberations at 9 a.m. today.

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