ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. - A prosecutor in the case of three men accused of killing six friends over an Xbox video game console told the jury Wednesday that the victims were beaten and stabbed to death "in a matter of minutes."

Troy Victorino, 29; Michael Salas, 20; and Jerone Hunter, 20; each face six counts of first-degree murder, five counts of mutilating a dead human body and other felonies. Prosecutors have said they will seek the death penalty if they are convicted.

A fourth man, Robert Cannon, 19, pleaded guilty in October to all the charges and will receive a life sentence in exchange for his testimony for the prosecution.

Authorities said Victorino became angry when 22-year-old Erin Belanger took his Xbox video game machine and some clothing from her grandparents' vacant home where he had been squatting, prosecutors said.

Prosecutor John Tanner said Wednesday that Victorino and the three others, armed with baseball bats, entered the house where the victims were sleeping early on the morning of Aug. 6, 2004.

"The girls are screaming, the solid, sickening sound of bats on flesh and bone," Tanner said. "You hear the screams of the dog being smashed in the face. It will come alive for you in this trial."

Also killed were Michelle Nathan, 19, Francisco Ayo-Roman, 30, Anthony Vega, 34, Roberto Gonzalez, 28, and Jonathan Gleason, 17. Most were co-workers at a Burger

King restaurant in Deltona.

Attorney Jeffrey Dees, who represents Salas, said his client was not responsible for the slayings and did not know Victorino until just days before the killings.

"Michael Salas is not a killer. He did not kill anybody," Dees said.

Victorino's attorney, Michael Nielsen, said Tanner's version of events may not be correct. Hunter's attorney, Ed Mills, did not make an opening statement.