Emotional Mountain said she got text from Jimmy: People keep bothering me

Kelsey Mountain watches portions of surveillance video from Gary's as Assistant County Tim Sulllivan, left, and defense attorney Joseph Welsh look on. (Rochester Voice photos)

DOVER - When Jim Unfonak's girlfriend asked him if he wanted to go with her to help find the wife of a couple they were with because she'd walked out of the bar drunk after having a fight with her husband, his reply came quickly.

"He said, 'No, he didn't want to deal with the drama,'" Kelsey Mountain testified on Thursday in Strafford County Superior Court.

Little did Unfonak, 44, of Rochester, know that during the remainder of the evening of Jan. 30, 2016, the "drama" at Gary's Sports Bar would overwhelm him and ultimately take his life.

Thursday was the second day in the trial of Eric Langlais of Barnstead, who is charged with manslaughter in the death of Unfonak after Langlais punched him in the jaw causing him to fall to the ground and crack his head on a hard-frozen Gary's parking lot around 1:30 a.m. Jan. 31.

Mountain was the steady girlfriend and live-in partner of Unfonak, the drummer in popular Seacoast band Bang N Jane, for more than 10 years she testified on Thursday.

She said that Saturday started off great with her and Jimmy having a few beers at a friend's house before they all decided to head off to Gary's to celebrate the birthday of band member Mike Frampton.

Mountain admitted that Unfonak was getting "buzzed" through the day, but he was fine and having a good time.

Kelsey Mountain looks down at the floor as portions of the video showing longtime boyfriend Jim Unfonak walking toward the car where he was punched during the second day of Eric Langlais' manslaughter trial on Thursday.

Later when she was off helping her friend find his wife who had left the bar, Unfonak sent her a text from Gary's saying people at the bar were bothering him, she told the court.

When she returned to the bar to get Unfonak, however, she realized quickly the level of agitation and violence had escalated.

"I went inside and asked him if he wanted to go or wait for the cops," Mountain said, adding "Jimmy said no, he wanted to go home."

Much of Mountain's testimony under questioning from Assistant County Attorney Tim Sullivan was in reference to various segments of surveillance video take during that evening at Gary's, some of it eliciting smiles from Mountain as she watched her longtime boyfriend dancing merrily on the dancefloor; others bringing quiet sobs of grief as she watched him approach the car that was to take him home before the fateful punch that ended his life with her.

In reference to a video snippet from around 1:24 a.m., just six minutes before Unfonak would take a right fist to the chin from Langlais, Mountain said she recognized Mandy Patch, Laurie Henner and Langlais standing outside.

She then went back inside to get Jimmy, she testified.

"Was there any discussion about fighting?" Sullivan asked.

"No, none," Mountain said.

Around 1:30 a.m. she said they proceeded to the car with longtime friend Al Leeman and a bouncer running protection for Unfonak.

She said Unfonak was behind her and getting ready to get in the rear passenger side door when "Eric came from behind the car and hit him on the chin," she testified.

She said Unfonak then fell to the ground and hit his head on the hard-frozen parking lot.

"Did you see him hit his head (on the parking lot)?" Sullivan asked.

"I didn't see it, but I heard it," Mountain said, making a loud clapping noise with open palms.

She said when she looked at Unfonak after he fell, his eyes were closed and she couldn't tell if he was breathing.

Soon after police and rescue personnel arrived, and he was rushed to Maine Medical Center where hours later he was declared brain dead and taken off life support the following day.

While Mountain described her boyfriend's mood at Gary's that night as for the most part upbeat, defense attorney Joseph Welsh sought to paint the popular drummer as increasingly belligerent and intoxicated.

Welsh pointed out a portion of the surveillance video where Unfonak can be seen stumbling near the dancefloor and another where it looks like he's angry at Mountain in the poker room, a common area inside Gary's bar.

A defiant and sometimes testy Mountain said she couldn't even remember the encounter in the poker room and, of course, they sometimes bickered, like all couples do, but there was nothing wrong.

Welsh had Mountain recall how many drinks Unfonak had had through the day and summed up it could have been 10-12, to which Mountain agreed.

"Did you know he had fentanyl in his system?" Welsh asked.

"No," Mountain replied.

In opening arguments on Wednesday Sullivan sought to establish Langlais, 42, as a man looking "to get a piece of Jimmy" after Unfonak had made "oinking" sounds while getting into it verbally with Henner that night.

If Langlais is found guilty of manslaughter, he could be sentenced up to 30 years in prison.

Cross-examination of Mountain will continue today around 10 a.m.