AUGUSTA — After eight days of testimony, the trial of the man accused of burning down the Grand View Topless Coffee Shop in Vassalboro is nearing its conclusion.

Raymond Bellavance Jr., 50, of Winthrop has maintained that he is innocent of two arson charges related to the fire on June 3, 2009, at the coffee shop, which was in the restaurant portion of a former motel.

Justice Michaela Murphy told jurors Wednesday that testimony is drawing to a close and will be followed by closing arguments. The trial resumes today at 8 a.m. in Kennebec County Superior Court. The big unknown is whether Bellavance will take the witness stand.

Out of the jury’s earshot, Murphy told Bellavance on Wednesday, “You have a right to testify if that’s what you want to do.”

But, she said, “If you testify, you will be subject to cross-examination by the state.”

Bellavance said he would consult with his attorneys Wednesday night.

The prosecution and fire investigators say Bellavance burned down the building because he was jealous of a waitress who was working there, his on-and-off girlfriend Krista MacIntyre. She was having sex with other men, including the coffee shop’s owner.

Bellavance’s defense team says he is being framed, and that he left Maine for South Carolina just before a warrant was issued for his arrest so he could better prepare to defend himself.

Defense attorney Andrews Campbell has pointed to the timing of the fire, saying it started well before it was reported — while Bellavance was visiting friends in Augusta.

Campbell has also said that other people disliked the controversial coffee shop on Route 3, which attracted national media attention.

MacIntyre, the waitress, has testified that Bellavance was neither jealous nor possessive of her, and in fact had sexual relationships with other women, including her cousin.

MacIntyre returned to the witness stand Wednesday morning. Deputy District Attorney Alan Kelley led her through her previous statements to the primary fire investigator, Kenneth MacMaster of the state Fire Marshal’s Office.

MacIntyre testified that she lied in an affidavit on March 10, 2009, in which she sought a protection-from-abuse order against Bellavance a day after he went to her workplace and — the prosecution says — tried to get her fired.

“I’m scared for my safety,” MacIntyre wrote in her affidavit, which was read in court by Kelley. “He tells me no one will ever have you; you are mine until I die.”

MacIntyre said she argued frequently with Crabtree, who would fire her for a few days and then take her back.

She said she never gave a direct answer when Crabtree asked her to accompany him to a public meeting in Vassalboro that was held hours before the fire, which was reported just before 1 a.m.

MacIntyre testified that she remains friends with Bellavance.

Kelley told her the jail has recordings of seven calls that Bellavance made to her from the jail from Dec. 12-20, as the trial was taking place or getting under way.

“He never told me what to say,” MacIntyre said.

Almost every time a witness has testified, Kelley has started his questioning with a rundown of that person’s criminal record.

MacIntyre, for example, admitted that she was convicted of forgery, receiving stolen property, and theft by deception and theft of services, as well as several counts of theft by unauthorized taking, from 2006 to 2008.

Thomas Mulkern, who was released from jail last week after completing a substance abuse rehabilitation program, was recalled briefly to testify Wednesday.

Mulkern said previously that his girlfriend gave him and Bellavance a ride to the coffee shop very early on June 3, 2009, and that Bellavance splashed gasoline on the back of the building and then lit one of two gas cans on fire before both men fled through the woods.

Mulkern was given immunity from prosecution in exchange for his testimony.

Kennebec Journal Staff Writer Betty Adams can be contacted at 621-5631 or at:

badams@centralmaine.com