MONCTON, N.B. - A man charged with kidnapping a New Brunswick woman last year and keeping her captive in his home for almost a month says she had opportunities to turn his weapons against him -- but did not because she wanted to be with him.

On his second day of testimony, Romeo Cormier told the jury Tuesday there were hammers, swords, knives, scissors and a gun in his one-room basement apartment.

"What stopped her from hitting me in the head when I was sleeping?" Cormier told the Court of Queen's Bench.

Cormier said he even showed the woman how to use his .22-calibre handgun.

"What stopped her from popping me in the head?" he said.

The defence asked Cormier why he had a gun.

"Anyone in the room can tell I'm not an altar boy," Cormier replied.

"Of course I carry a gun to protect myself."

Cormier, 63, testified that an orange-handled hunting knife was always in view and accessible to the woman.

The 55-year-old woman -- whose identity is protected by a publication ban -- testified last week that Cormier kept an orange-handled knife in plain view. She said she didn't dare try grabbing it because she felt she would be overpowered by him.

Cormier also said he showered with the woman and shared his toothbrush with her.

He is accused of abducting the woman outside a Moncton mall where she worked on Feb. 26, 2010, and holding her against her will for 26 days until she escaped wearing just a T-shirt, underwear and socks while he was out at a food bank.

He has pleaded not guilty to kidnapping, forcible confinement, sexual assault, assault with a weapon, theft and uttering death threats.

Cormier has testified that he first met the woman in 1993 in Newfoundland and that he became reacquainted with her 13 years later.

He said on the night of Feb. 26, 2010, she enlisted him to kill her husband, but that the plan fell apart after she cut her hand outside her home and they left.

The woman was to pay him after the husband's life insurance policy was settled and she was able to sell the house, Cormier said.

He told the court that the woman and him destroyed her cellphone three days after her public disappearance, fearing it could be traced by police.

Cormier said his cellphone was always charged and in the room, even when he left the woman alone to prepare supper in another part of the basement.

He said the woman picked up the phone one day, deleted some pictures he had taken of them together and tried to access her Facebook account, but did not try to call anyone.

Cormier said he would prepare dinner in the kitchen adjacent to his room every evening and the woman usually stayed in his room, but sometimes sat in the kitchen.

"I never told that woman what to do ... I suggested," Cormier said.

"She was my boss."

Cormier said they discussed another way to kill the husband that involved the woman shooting the husband.

One night while they were in bed watching television, he said she asked him: "Would it be OK if I watched (the husband) sleep one more time before I do it?"

Cormier said that made him worry about what she was thinking.

About a week later, he said he discovered his handgun wasn't positioned the way he had left it. Cormier said he decided to store it in another part of the basement where he kept a shotgun, his drug scales and about $3,500 in cash.

At times, Cormier spoke quickly, waved his arms and occasionally stood during his testimony in an attempt to demonstrate his actions.

He often interrupted his defence lawyer, Maurice Blanchard, and tried to direction his questioning.

Judge Zoel Dionne told Cormier to listen to Blanchard and answer his questions.

Blanchard asked Cormier to describe the events of March 24, 2010, the day the woman says she managed to untie herself and escape while Cormier left her alone.

Cormier said they went to bed at 8 a.m. after staying up all night but she woke him three hours later.

"She announced to me that I was late," he said, adding that he had planned to get muffins from the YMCA.

"I was cranky. I just got up," he said. "I got very verbal with her."

Cormier said she looked sad when he yelled at her.

"I didn't care what was going to happen anymore," he said, adding that it had been stressful being with the woman for 26 days knowing that the police were looking for her that entire time.

Cormier said the woman was sitting and watching TV when he left.

"Did you tie her up?" Blanchard asked.

"No, I didn't," Cormier replied. He also denied putting duct tape on her.

Cormier said he was gone for about 30 minutes and returned to find his room empty.

"My little woman was gone ... my partner in crime," he said.

Cormier said he checked the bathroom, but she wasn't there, so he went to the room of tenant Nora Thompson and told her he had a confession to make.

Cormier said he told Thompson that a married woman had been staying with him in his room and he believed the woman might go to the police.

During their last week together, the woman and him had a number of "deep conversations," Cormier said.

He said she realized there was no way to bypass police and simply return home.

The woman suggested they tell police they just had "a fling" and try to minimize the details, Cormier said.

Cormier said that after he discovered the woman was gone, he could have taken his cash and guns and fled, but stayed and waited for the police.

He said when the police arrived at his apartment, they had their guns drawn and told him he was being charged with abduction.

Cormier said that took him by surprise because he expected the woman would have told police a much different story.

Cormier said he told investigators the woman was his girlfriend.

He said he was taken to the RCMP detachment in Moncton and gave four statements during 8 1/2 hours of interrogation.

The Crown will begin cross-examination Wednesday.