There was emotional testimony from former inmates at the Elgin-Middlesex Detention Centre who heard screams for help and saw a struggle on the night Adam Kargus was murdered in his cell.

Two former EMDC workers, Stephen Jurkus and Leslie Lonsbary are on trial for failing to provide the necessaries of life in the case. Both have pleaded not guilty.

Jason Butters was in the same unit but in a separate cell that night in Oct. 2013.

He told the court, "I watched it through my window...he had his head smashed against the wall...there was blood...he got beat for a long period of time."

Butters says he held up a sign to alert guards, "Adam was basically screaming out for the rest of us to call the guards for help…you could hear the punches and the smashes against the wall...I remember him putting his hands to his face begging for help, saying somebody help me."

Later, he says he also heard the man responsible for the murder, Anthony George, say "I think I killed him."

Butters wasn't alone, Robert Graham is also a former inmate, who says he heard the beating from another floor and tried to alert the guards.

Graham was tearful as he testified, “I heard very definitive screams for help, help, help several times...It was ongoing there was pounding, screaming, there was hollering for help...you could actually hear the vibrations...I believe it was directly above me."

Graham says he felt bad, "I was locked up in my cell and there was nothing personally I could do."

Asked if he had ever heard anything like that before Graham answered, "Never, not even once, not even close.

Kargus's lifeless body was found the next morning.

Earlier in the day an EMDC guard testified about the ongoing problems at the centre.

David Adams told the jury about the overcrowding issue at the jail and the concerns with understaffing.

When asked about George he told the court, "I've dealt with thousands and thousands of inmates and from the first time I met this guy...I thought this guy isn't right, he's an idiot.”

George pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in his cell mate’s death.