AUGUSTA (AP) – An Augusta man charged with murder made his initial court appearance Friday in the abduction and killing of his mother-in-law whose body was found a few blocks from her home.

David Grant, 54, appeared in Kennebec County Superior Court in the death of Janet Hagerthy. Grant is accused of abducting Hagerthy from her Farmingdale home Tuesday evening, killing her and later stabbing himself.

The judge read Grant his rights and ordered him held without bail.

He was charged Thursday at Eastern Maine Medical Center, where he underwent emergency surgery to treat self-inflicted stab wounds. A jail photograph of Grant shows him with a large bandage around his neck.

The medical examiner’s office has ruled that Hagerthy died of “multiple traumatic injuries.” Murder carries a sentence of 25 years to life in prison.

Grant, a self-employed carpenter, served time in prison after a 1988 conviction for attacking a previous wife he was estranged from at the time. He was accused of trying to suffocate her with a plastic bag and trying to drown her by holding her head under water.

AP-ES-12-03-04 1710EST