BANGOR (AP) – A 62-year-old convicted murderer from Vermont who allegedly stole a pickup truck from a transitional housing facility in Charleston has pleaded not guilty to a charge of theft.

Kent Hanson was arraigned Wednesday in Penobscot County Superior Court.

Hanson has been held at the county jail since his arrest in the central Maine town of Detroit on May 20, two days after the truck was reported missing from the Second Chance Ranch. Hanson was found at the home of a woman he met the night before at Lucky’s Tavern in Newport.

If convicted, Hanson faces up to 10 years in prison. No trial date has been set.

Hanson’s lawyer persuaded Justice Andrew Mead judge to lower bail from $100,000 surety or $50,000 cash to $60,000 surety or $10,000 cash. The attorney, David Bate, said the bail amount was “probably academic” because his client has no money and no assets.

Hanson had asked the judge for assistance in filling out his application for court-appointed counsel, saying his glasses had not been returned to him after his arrest and he could not see well enough to complete the form.

Hanson, described by law enforcement as a “ticking time bomb,” was charged with killing his wife in 1964 in Vermont. He pleaded innocent by reason of insanity and spent several years in a state hospital. He most recently completed a 20-year prison sentence for killing another woman in 1985.

Shortly before his disappearance, people in the Charleston area apparently confronted Hanson about his past, causing him to become stressed, officials said.

Hanson could face additional charges in Somerset County, where the district attorney, Evert Fowle, said his relationship with the Detroit woman was under investigation.

The woman had bruises on her face when police arrived at her mobile home, and she was taken to a hospital for treatment.

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