A police officer took the witness stand at his murder trial Friday and denied slashing the throat of a college student with whom he'd been conducting a secret homosexual affair.

The married officer acknowledged an intimate relationship with Valencia that began the night he arrested the 23-year-old student at a noisy off-campus party and included a half-dozen trysts, some while Rios was on duty and in uniform.

But, he insisted, he had nothing to do with the University of Missouri junior's murder. Valencia, an outspoken history major who dreamed of being the first gay president, was found dead June 5, 2004, splayed on a lawn a block from campus with a jagged 4-inch gash across his neck. Rios is accused of killing him because he feared Valencia would reveal the affair to the chief of police.

The defendant and his wife, Libby, were the final witnesses for the defense. Jurors filed out of the courtroom Friday afternoon to begin deliberating the case. If convicted of first-degree murder, Rios faces life in prison.

Rios, who cried several times as he testified, said that, after the murder, he tried to cover up the relationship to protect his wife, newborn son and job. He said he twice threatened suicide not because he was guilty but because he was devastated that his name and details of the affair had made the local news.

As Rios prepares to file his appeal, he looks back on what went wrong in his trial. "I think some of the sensationalized aspects of the trial muddied the waters. It didn't have anything to do with fairness or the truth, it had to do with a show."

Rios hopes a new trial will just deal with the facts in regard to the case. He admits to having an affair and not being proud of his actions. But that's where he says his involvement with Valencia stopped.

Since his conviction, Rios' life is reduced to 23 hours each day in his cell, but said his family and friends are still very supportive and are with him 110%. "That support is the only thing waking me up because it's hard everyday waking up here."

"I just want to get back to being a dad and living my life," explains Rios. Now, Rios says he's very confident in the appelate process and is confident once more facts are given to the jury, he will go free.