Cary Scott, husband of the slain Margarita Fisenko Scott, told jurors Tuesday that he was desperate for answers from the moment he last saw his wife walking away on Nov. 10, 2012, until he discovered her body two months later, in the parking lot of a Portland motel.

Scott testified Tuesday during the trial of Anthony Pratt Jr., his wife’s accused killer, that he never suspected his wife was dead until he made the gruesome discovery on Jan. 17, 2013, outside Motel 6 on Riverside Street. Until then, he had been convinced she had run off to New York with Pratt, her drug-dealing lover.

He called her cellphone 93 times after she disappeared, but got no answer. He couldn’t reach Pratt, so he repeatedly called another man who supplied his wife with drugs, Christopher Jennings. He said those conversations were hostile, with Scott telling Jennings, “I know you know where she is,” so many times that Jennings often handed the phone to his wife, Tunile Jennings, whenever Scott called.

“I wanted answers. I couldn’t deal with this guy because I was told he had gone to New York,” Scott said, gesturing with his chin to Pratt across the courtroom. “I was grasping at straws.”

Pratt, 21, of Queens, New York, is accused of fatally shooting Margarita Scott, 29, on Nov. 11, 2012, inside a West Concord Street apartment in Portland rented by Christopher and Tunile Jennings, where both Pratt and Scott often stayed. Margarita Scott was killed with a .40-caliber handgun that police found hidden in another Portland apartment that the Jennings rented. DNA from both Tunile and Christopher Jennings was found on the gun.

Cary Scott testified at the Cumberland County Courthouse in Portland on the seventh day of Pratt’s trial. He was the next-to-last witness for the prosecution, which rested its case on Tuesday.

The defense has called a half-dozen witnesses so far and may call more Wednesday morning.

Pratt, who has been mostly silent, sitting beside his attorneys, has not indicated whether he will testify in his own defense. Both the defense and prosecution said they expect to make closing arguments on Wednesday.

Pratt’s DNA was not found on the murder weapon, and evidence collected during the autopsy showed that Christopher Jennings was the last person to have sex with Scott before she died.

The lead investigator in the case, Portland Police Detective Richard Vogel, testified Monday that police initially considered four suspects in the case: Cary Scott first, then Christopher and Tunile Jennings, before focusing on Pratt as the sole suspect.

Police have said they believe Scott was killed sometime between 1 a.m. on Nov. 11, 2012, when phone records show she talked with Christopher and Tunile Jennings while the couple was out celebrating Christopher’s birthday, and 3 a.m., when the couple returned to the West Concord Street apartment to find Pratt asleep and Scott gone.

A prosecution witness who lived next to the Jennings, Kristy Jackson, said she was awake on the night of the alleged murder and saw someone matching Pratt’s description carrying something that could have been a body from the apartment to Scott’s vehicle outside.

No witnesses reported hearing gunfire that night, and the Jennings testified that they saw no signs of blood or violence inside the apartment when they returned.

Neither Christopher nor Tunile Jennings has been charged in connection with Scott’s death. Tunile Jennings has since moved back to Queens, New York, with their two children. Christopher Jennings still lives in Portland with friends while he is free on bail in an unrelated felony cocaine trafficking case in Maine.

Christopher Jennings admitted on the witness stand last week that he lied to police repeatedly during the murder investigation. Tunile Jennings testified that she and her husband coordinated the lies they told police with Pratt in New York.

Pratt has pleaded not guilty to a single count of murder and has been held without bail since his arrest in New York in April 2013.

Scott Dolan can be reached at 791-6304 or at:

sdolan@pressherald.com

Twitter: @scottddolan