The nephew of homicide victim George Davis took the stand in Napa County Superior Court Monday, painting a far gentler picture of the man who jurors have been told lured young people into a cult of black magic and witchcraft.

“Uncle George was my primary caregiver,” said Collin Davis, 28, testifying at the murder trial of the man who shot Davis, Alexander Taylor. “He took care of me the majority of the time until I was 12 and my mother and I moved to New York. All of our friends and neighbors loved him. He used to do magic tricks.”

Davis, who lives in New York and is a state trooper, was the last witness to testify in the five-week trial of Taylor, who is charged with shooting Davis in April 2007, in his Redwood Road apartment. The prosecution and defense rested their cases on Monday, with just the closing arguments to come today before the jury begins to deliberate.

Davis said his mother was a single parent and was always struggling financially.

“I lived with relatives until she could get on her feet. I lived with my grandparents and Uncle George also lived there. They were quite elderly, so George is the one who took care of me,” Davis said. “He was more like a father figure to me. I had a biological father, but he was never around.”

Collin Davis testified he lived with his uncle in Sunnyvale. He and George Davis also lived together for about four months in a motor home on the R-Ranch in the Lake Berryessa area.

“That was probably one of the best times of my life I can remember growing up. Everyone there really liked him, and I looked up to him. He and I made a trip to Disneyland. He, me, my aunt and uncle took a trip in his motor home to British Columbia. We camped. It was one of the best times I can remember as a kid,” Davis said.

“Did George love you?” Napa County Deputy District Attorney Gary Van Camp asked.

“Oh, yes, very much,” Davis  replied.

“And did you love him?”

“Absolutely, without a doubt, he was the only father I knew.”

Van Camp asked if he ever heard or saw his uncle threaten anyone.

“No. I always considered him a pacifist,” Davis answered.

“Did he discuss his religion with you?”

“I know he had different beliefs than the mainstream ... went into witchcraft ... Satanism.”

Davis said his uncle never pushed his religious beliefs on him or anyone else that he knew.

“He would answer my questions about his religion, but said if I wanted to know more to ask him when I was older,” Davis said.

Davis said although he knew his uncle was into witchcraft, Satanism and black magic, he never saw him practice any rituals.

“Did he ever mistreat you or sexually assault you?”

“No, never, never.”

Davis testified when he and his mother moved to New York, “it broke my heart to leave him.”

He said Davis wrote him letters telling him how much he missed him.

Defense attorney Jess Raphael cross-examined Davis.

“Your last memory of your uncle was when you were 12? You knew nothing more about him after 1996?” Raphael asked.

“That’s correct.”

Raphael also questioned Collin Davis about books his uncle had about young boys in bondage, pictures of young children without their shirts on in positions suggesting they were being tortured.

Davis said he knew nothing about the books, nor did he recognize any of the people in the photos.

Raphael asked Davis about the whip and handcuffs found in his uncle’s apartment after his death.

“I never saw them,” Davis said.

“If I showed you a picture of that whip and handcuffs, would that refresh your memory?” Raphael asked.

“I don’t think you can refresh my memory about something I have never seen,” Davis replied.

Taylor has admitted to shooting Davis at least five times in Davis’ apartment on Redwood Road.

In interviews with detectives the day Davis’ body was discovered by an acquaintance, Taylor gave two possible motives. First he said that Davis said he wanted to die and asked Taylor to assist in his suicide. Secondly, Taylor believed Davis had raped him when he was 4, an incident that has not been substantiated.

Taylor has pleaded not guilty. However, if the jury finds him guilty of murder, Raphael will argue his client is innocent by reason of insanity.

During the trial, Van Camp has focused on the theory that Taylor planned and deliberately went to Davis’ house and intentionally shot him without any provocation. Van Camp said Davis did not pose any imminent danger to Taylor the night he was gunned down in his own bedroom.

Raphael has argued that Davis had gained power over Taylor, whose psychological problems included schizophrenia and hearing voices in his head, voices that Davis taught him to control through magic spells.

Raphael has argued the shooting was in self-defense, which would reduce the crime to voluntary manslaughter.