A jury has found a homeless man not guilty for the death of his friend in the fall of 2006.

Larry Sauve was charged with the Oct. 3, 2006, beating death of Peter Vukelich. The friends had been drinking beer near railroad tracks behind St. John Street.

The state accused Sauve of manslaughter for allegedly bludgeoning Vukelich on the head with a backpack filled with unopened beer bottles.

The jury returned the verdict this afternoon in Cumberland County Superior Court, following a trial that began April 7.

Sauve said all along he was innocent of the crime. A judge previously ruled him mentally incompetent to stand trial, but the judge recently decided that Sauve did have the ability to assist with his own defense.

The state was represented by Assistant Attorney General Lisa Marchese; Sauve was represented by lawyers Kevin Sullivan of Augusta and Peter Cyr of Portland.