The 49-year-old chiropractor accused of manslaughter in the death of 78-year-old city resident Herbert Davison testified in his own defense Monday, claiming Davison came at him with what seemed like a dark, flat object in his hand before he hit him.
A Stamford police crime scene officer also testified to finding two folding knives with 3-inch blades in the bag of Davison's personal items that was taken as evidence after the January 2009 incident.
William Lindemann, who was 47 at the time of the Jan. 27, 2009 altercation, testified at state Superior Court in Stamford during the fourth day of his trial on first-degree manslaughter and assault charges in the death of Davison, who died three weeks after falling in a downtown Stamford parking lot and hitting his head on pavement. The prosecution rested Friday afternoon after calling to the stand a dentist who saw the alleged assault, Stamford police officers who investigated the incident and doctors who treated Davison before his death.
An eyewitness testified last Wednesday that Lindemann, who stands at 6-foot-2-inches and weighs 200 pounds, punched and knocked out Davison, causing him to fall like "dead wood." The fall caused a traumatic brain injury and severe swelling that later killed Davison, doctors testified. During his testimony Monday morning, Lindemann offered a different version of events, supporting a theory of self-defense.
"I was defending myself," Lindemann testified Monday morning, wearing a light blue collared shirt with a dark blue-and-pink tie. "I thought he had a weapon. I thought he was going to injure me."
In his account of the altercation with Davison in the parking lot behind Curly's Diner in downtown Stamford, Lindemann denied punching Davison with a closed fist and said he never directly faced him during the incident. He said he only glanced at Davison from over his shoulder and that he threw his hands toward Davison in a "defensive" motion when he saw him advance. He said he could not tell Davison's age because he wore a hooded sweatshirt and wool cap, hiding his gray hair and beard.

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