MLYNIEC

WARWICK — In a videotaped interview with West Warwick detectives, Brian Mlyniec, 45, said the death of Kelly Ann Andersen will haunt him for the rest of his life. Mlyniec, accused of killing the 41-year-old Andersen at his home two years ago, is being tried in the Kent County Superior Court on a charge of first-degree murder.

“I didn’t do anything for her to die,” he told the detectives in 2006. “I did not kill her.”

In the second day of Mlyniec’s trial, prosecutors played more of the videotaped interview with detectives after Andersen’s body was found on the floor of his living room, at 95 Harris Ave., on June 23, 2006.

Prosecution witnesses testifying yesterday included West Warwick Detectives George Winman and Ray Lemoi, who serves in the department’s Bureau of Criminal Investigation, and Michael Rothermel, a neighbor of Mlyniec.

In the videotaped interview, Mlyniec described running into Anderson, with whom he had had a previous relationship, in Providence and bringing her back to his home the night of June 22. He said they had a few drinks and watched TV and that they had consensual sexual activity during which he said he tied her wrists and ankles with wire.

“That makes me look like an animal or something,” he told the detectives. “If she wanted me to stop she would [have told] me.”

When the detectives asked him to describe Andersen’s physical state and to explain bruises on her face, mouth, neck and other parts of her body, Mlyniec mostly responded “I don’t know” or “I don’t recall.”

As the night progressed, he told the detectives, he sensed that Andersen was “out of it.” He said he put her in a tub of cold water in the bathroom. But she tried to stand up and fell, hitting her head on the floor, he said.

When asked whether he saw blood on her forehead or face as he brought her back to the living room, Mlyniec said he did not remember. When asked why he left Andersen alone in his house to go to work the next day and why he didn’t call for rescue personnel, he said he thought she was all right, that she was just sleeping. He said he didn’t want to lose the job.

But he emphasized his concern for Andersen, saying he rushed back from work about an hour after leaving, to check on her.

Toward the end of the taped interview, Mlyniec admitted that he had “screwed up” by not calling for help in time to save Andersen.

“I feel terrible,” he said.

In court yesterday, prosecutor Thomas J. O’Brien presented photos of a shed behind Mlyniec’s house, in which some of Andersen’s clothing and accessories had been stored before their last encounter. The jury also watched a short police videotape of Mlyniec’s living room, kitchen, bedroom and bathroom.

A photo taken in the living room floor showed a silver-colored belt, wires and what were described as the earpieces for a Walkman.

Detective Lemoi testified that he collected those items, which he said were sent to the state Health Department for testing, and documented the crime scene. In response to a question from prosecutor O’Brien, the detective said the three items have been missing since they were returned by the Health Department.

Mlyniec’s neighbor, Rothermel, testified he saw Mlyniec coming out of his house at about 5:30 a.m on June 23.

Rothermel said Mlyniec had blood on his face and right arm. When he asked him what had happened, he testified, Mlyniec said the girl he had “picked up” the night before had had her menstrual cycle.

He told Rothermel, who sometimes gave him a ride to work, that he wouldn’t need one that day, saying he didn’t want to leave the girl alone because he didn’t trust her. He said he was afraid she would rob his house.

In response to a question by defense lawyer Andrew A. Bucci, Rothermel testified that he did not know Andersen and did not see her that day.

The trial will resume at 10 this morning, before the jury and Judge Edwin J. Gale.

njayakri@projo.com