Contrary to previous reports, Michael Runyan and Luke Abrams did not try to enter the Adelante fraternity house, Jason Marsh told the jury in the Sellers murder trial Friday morning.

Marsh, Christina Patterson and Tammi Enquist, friends of Michael Runyan, who is on trial for Sellers’ murder, testified Friday about the events of April 19-20, 1997.

Runyan is accused of stabbing Sellers in an altercation on the Adelante property during Iowa State’s annual Veishea celebration.

Marsh said he, Patterson, Enquist, Runyan, Abrams and Christopher Grady, all of Fort Dodge, came to Ames on the evening of Saturday, April 19 to take part in Veishea.

Marsh testified that after the group talked to some other friends from Fort Dodge, it split up into pairs, with Patterson and Enquist, Abrams and Runyan, and Marsh and Grady leaving together.

Marsh said when Grady stopped to talk to his girlfriend, he lost Grady in the crowd. “Then I ran into Luke and Mike. I started walking with them guys,” Marsh said.

The trio “walked around for a while,” Marsh said, and were making their way north on the east side of Welch Avenue when they passed the Adelante house, where a party was going on.

“It was packed,” Marsh remembered, estimating there were 40 people in the front yard and 15 people on the balcony.

“Luke said, ‘Let’s party,'” Marsh said. “Then someone from the balcony yelled, ‘Fuck off!’ Luke said something back, but I’m not sure what he said.”

Marsh said he heard a voice say, “Keep walkin’ or fight like a man!” At that time, Marsh said his group was standing approximately where the sidewalk running out from the house meets the main north-south sidewalk along Welch Avenue.

Marsh described Runyan and Abrams as “arguing with somebody” and said “one man had a board like he was going to hit Luke.”

Assistant Story County Attorney Steven Holmes asked Marsh, “Did [Runyan and Abrams] ever try to go up and go into the fraternity house?”

“No,” Marsh replied.

“Are you sure?” Holmes asked.

“Positive,” Marsh said.

Marsh’s statement directly contradicted previous testimony from Steven Miller, who said Thursday “[Runyan and Abrams] walked up toward the house as if they wanted in the house.”

Marsh said he kept walking and was 10-15 feet north of Runyan and Abrams as the argument continued.

“Some people in the yard started to come down. Both parties were irritated,” he said.

The group moved to the north side of the Adelante house and exchanged some words, at which point Marsh said he, Runyan and Abrams left.

“I don’t remember any physical contact,” he said.

As the three men moved away from the scene of the altercation, Marsh said they were not followed by anyone.

He said Runyan and Abrams did not discuss the incident as they walked away. “They were pretty much just walking fast,” he said.

Marsh said the three men walked about a block and a half to where Enquist’s minivan was parked and had a cigarette once they got there.

“That’s when we seen Tammi and Christina,” Marsh said.

When prosecuting attorney Holmes grilled Marsh about the events at the van, Marsh said he did not know what Runyan and Abrams had been doing, but he admitted they could have “looked through the van and got something.”

The five youths then walked back out of the parking lot, and Marsh said he knew where they were going — back to the Adelante house.

“I just said that it wouldn’t be worth going back there, but they weren’t listening. They heard me but didn’t respond,” Marsh said.

As they approached the house, Marsh left the group and crossed to the west side of Welch Avenue.

“I didn’t feel like getting beat up,” he said. “There was 30 of them and three of us. I was thinking there was going to be a fight.”

Marsh said he saw Runyan throw a punch and added, “It looked like the other guy [Sellers] pushed him.

“Next thing I remember was seeing [Runyan and Abrams] running. I started running, because there were people chasing me, too,” Marsh said.

Christina Patterson said she and Enquist were also watching the drama unfold from across the street.

Sellers ran out from beside the house after Runyan and Abrams, she said. “He was holding his chest and there was blood on his shirt.”

Patterson said she heard Sellers yell, “He stabbed me” two or three times and then, “He walked in a circle and fell to the ground.”

No one at the party noticed Sellers collapse on the lawn, and Patterson said she wanted to cry out but couldn’t. “I was in shock,” she said as her eyes reddened. She covered her face and wiped away a tear as District Court Judge Timothy Finn called for a morning recess.

Marsh said he ran to the van and found Abrams and Runyan already there. When Patterson and Enquist showed up, he said, “Everyone was like, ‘Let’s go, let’s go!”

He described Runyan as a little excited, but said Abrams went to sleep and the van was “basically silent for the rest of the way home.”

Marsh said he was paged Sunday afternoon from Enquist’s house. When he arrived there, he found Abrams, Enquist, her brother and some other friends.

“Luke told me that he died, and I didn’t know what he was talking about. He said, “Don’t tell nobody, or you will be [dead] too,'” Marsh said, adding Abrams did not tell him who had killed Sellers.

The trial continued Friday afternoon with testimony from Enquist and Abrams.