A witness told jurors Thursday afternoon during a murder trial that the defendant confessed to beating his longtime girlfriend hours after investigators allege it happened.

Robin Patrick Roberts said he was with Christopher Belone during the late afternoon July 27 at Buford M. Watson Jr. Park near downtown Lawrence. That’s where Belone told him he caught his longtime girlfriend, 37-year-old Linda Begay, in another man’s bed without her clothes on.

“I said, ‘What? Did you beat her up?’ And he said, ‘yes,'” Roberts said.

Roberts also made a boxing and kicking motion to demonstrate Belone’s actions.

Prosecutors accuse Belone of beating up Begay at the Gaslight Village mobile home park. Begay died two days later at a hospital of peritonitis, an infection caused by blunt trauma to the abdomen.

Belone is charged with second-degree murder and three other charges in connection with the case.

In Belone’s defense, his attorney, Greg Robinson, is accusing a state witness, Frank Mallonee, of beating up Begay after she refused to have sex with him.

All sides are in agreement that Mallonee and Begay had consumed alcohol together at Mallonee’s mobile home, where Begay had fallen asleep. Mallonee’s home is in the same park as Begay’s home.

Assistant Douglas County district attorneys Trent Krug and Eve Kemple continued to present their case during the trial’s fourth day. Their witnesses included trailer park residents who saw Begay bloodied and getting out of Belone’s pickup truck.

The couple’s neighbor Darrell Vann testified that Mallonee had told Belone to pick up Begay from Mallonee’s trailer because she had passed out there. Vann also said Mallonee later sat on his porch from the time Begay came by asking for help until police arrived and interviewed several neighbors.

Also in testimony Thursday, Belone’s mother, Virginia, who lived with the couple, said that she left the trailer and called 911 from a pay phone because Begay broke a window at the home.

During that time, Begay returned to Vann’s home and asked for help until another neighbor gave her a ride to the hospital, neighbors testified.

The trial continues today with a cross-examination of Roberts by the defense.