SAN DIEGO -- Michael Crowe is testifying again today in the Richard Tuite murder trial. He is the prosecution's first witness in their rebuttal case.

Crowe's sister, Stephanie, was stabbed to death six years ago at the family's Escondido home.

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Monday, Crowe told the jury about his state of mind during the murder and how his relationship with his sister improved in the months before her death.

He said he was awakened the night of his sister's death by a pounding noise in the family's laundry room. He said he got up at 4:30 a.m. to get some aspirin and milk. Stephanie's body was found around 6 a.m.

"I saw my mom on top of my sister Stephanie on the ground and my dad was running back and forth in the hallway. I didn't get a good look at Stephanie, just a glimpse. I looked away because I saw blood and when I see blood I get sick," Crowe told the jury.

Attorneys for Tuite are trying to convince jurors that Crowe and friends Josh Treadway and Aaron Houser stabbed Stephanie to death.

The three teenagers were originally charged with the girl's murder, based largely on statements Crowe and Treadway gave to Escondido police detectives during long interrogations.

A judge in 1999 ruled that Michael Crowe's statements and most of Treadway's were coerced and inadmissible at trial. Murder charges were dismissed against the boys when defense attorneys had Tuite's red sweatshirt retested, and Stephanie's blood was found on it.

Tuite, now 34, was detained the day after the murder but authorities thought he was too clumsy and disorganized to commit the crime.