SAN DIEGO -- The younger sister of murder victim Stephanie Crowe testified Thursday in the trial of Richard Tuite, a man accused of killing the 12-year-old more than six years ago.

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Shannon Crowe, who was 10-years-old at the time of the murder, testified that she and Stephanie were watching a re-run of the television show "Home Improvement" and that Stephanie was eating a salad the night of the murder.

An autopsy indicating that she died about four hours after eating.

An uncle also took the stand Thursday. Attorneys ask him about the personalities of the two siblings. He said Stephanie brother, Michael, was a loner, while Stephanie was very outgoing and affectionate.

Stephanie's body was discovered by family members after 6 a.m. the morning of Jan. 21, 1998.

Escondido police initially thought the girl's murder was an "inside job" because there were no signs of forced entry.

Michael Crowe and friends Josh Treadway and Aaron Houser were originally charged with the murder. But those charges were dismissed when Stephanie's blood was found on the red sweatshirt Tuite had on the night of the killing.

The victim's blood was also found on a white T-shirt Tuite had on underneath the red sweatshirt.

Tuite's attorneys told the jury that a tripod used to take photos in the victim's room may have gotten blood on it, then come in contact with the sweatshirt in the lab.

The defense also said that two Escondido officers who were at the crime scene came in contact with Tuite in a police holding cell and could have contaminated the T-shirt he had on underneath.

A defense expert who conducted a crime scene re-enactment will testify it is more likely the seventh-grader was killed by two assailants, one holding a comforter down and one stabbing her, attorney William Fletcher told the jury in his opening statement.

Tuite, 34, was initially dismissed as being too clumsy to commit the killing.

The San Diego County Sheriff's Department took over the investigation from Escondido police, and two years ago, the state Attorney General's Office charged Tuite with the girl's murder.