After declining to take the stand in his own defense Friday, Michael Bargo changed his mind, testifying twice Monday at his trial for the brutal murder of 15-year-old Seath Jackson in Marion County.

Court was supposed to begin with closing arguments Monday morning. Instead, Bargo had a change of heart, and took the stand to tell his side of the story.

He gave jurors a mostly uninterrupted, two-hour narrative of his version of the events leading up to the death of Jackson in 2011.

Prosecutors say Bargo was the mastermind behind the plot to lure Jackson to the home of Charlie Ely and kill him. Investigators said Jackson was brutally beaten and shot to death before his remains were burned, dismembered and hidden in paint cans.

For nearly a week, prosecutors laid out their case against Bargo. Witnesses said he had confessed to taking part in the attack on Jackson. But once Bargo took the stand, he told jurors he wasn't even there. He said he got in a fight with Kyle Hooper, one of four other people already convicted and handed a life sentence in Jackson's murder, because Hooper stole his gun.

"I was pretty ticked off," Bargo said. "These people just stomped my face and stole my gun, so I'm not sticking around."

Bargo said when he returned, he saw the group with bleach and a large fire burning. He said Hooper told him they killed Jackson.

Prosecutor: "Could you have called the police?"

Michael Bargo: "I could have, but I didn't."

Prosecutor: "Could you have called your dad?"

Bargo: "I wouldn't."

Prosecutor: "Could you have called your grandma?"

Bargo: "Hell no."

Prosecutor: "Could you have left the house?"

Bargo: "And done what? Have them come after me? Beat me up and throw me in the fire for having told on them?"

Prosecutor: "Could you have left the house?"

Bargo: "Without being killed? No."

The state called Hooper as a rebuttal witness Monday afternoon. Hooper had previously said he would not testify at Bargo's trial, but told prosecutors Monday that he changed his mind, adding that he was testifying without consulting his attorney first.

On the stand, Hooper said Bargo took part in every step of the murder.

"I heard more shots go off, and I ran into the bathroom," Hooper testified. "Mike had shot him a few more times, and Mike was yelling at him."

Things got heated in the courtroom when Bargo refuted the state's claims that he and Jackson had been feuding because Bargo was dating Amber Wright, Jackson's ex-girlfriend and Hooper's sister.

Prosecutor: "So we have Kristen, Taylor, Charlie Ely and someone else you were dating you forgot when you testified was Amber, because you were sleeping with Amber and dating her at the time."

Bargo: "No, I wasn't."

Prosecutor: "But you do have her initials tattooed on your groin area?"

Bargo: "I have it on my thigh."

Prosecutor: "So, somehow, again, you are just the misunderstood victim in the middle of this whole thing?"

Bargo: "Somehow, I got dragged into the middle of that."

Bargo certainly did his best to describe himself as a pacifist, saying he tried to avoid fights because he was 5 feet, 4 inches tall. He said he even told the group not to have a bonfire the night of Jackson's murder, because there was a burn ban in effect at the time, and he was worried about getting a ticket.

With all the new testimony that came out in court Monday, Judge David Eddy gave attorneys the rest of the day to recraft their closing arguments, now set to begin Tuesday at 9 a.m.

Unlike the other four people who have already been convicted of Jackson's murder, Bargo could face the death penalty if he's also found guilty.