PORTLAND — Joel Aaron Hayden was in Cumberland County Superior Court on Thursday afternoon to face two charges of murder.

Hayden, 29, of New Bedford, Mass., was arrested Monday following the shooting deaths of his girlfriend, Renee Sandora, 27, and his longtime friend, Trevor Mills, 28, of New Bedford.

Sandora was the mother of Hayden’s four children, including 3-month-old twin girls.

Sandora and Mills were both shot at Sandora’s home on Bennett Road in New Gloucester, and each died from their injuries Tuesday at Central Maine Medical Center in Lewiston.

Hayden, who was injured during a high-speed police chase and crashed his car into a culvert in Lyman after the shootings, appeared in court wearing a yellow jail suit over his hospital gown, his green and white hospital ID bracelet clearly visible on his wrist. Moving slowly to sit and stand, he acknowledged understanding his Miranda rights and the murder charges as each was read aloud to him. Asked if he had any questions for the court, he said, “No, ma’am.”

Portland lawyer John Ney Jr. was appointed by the court to represent Hayden, who couldn’t afford an attorney.

Although Hayden is on medication for a back injury sustained during the crash, his attorney said Thursday that his client was “lucid and understands the process.”

The Massachusetts man will continue to be held without bail at Cumberland County Jail, pending a possible hearing to determine whether he is eligible for bail. That hearing had not yet been scheduled.

Ney asked in court that all future sworn affidavits relating to the case be impounded. Justice Nancy Mills agreed. In chambers after the hearing, Ney and Assistant Attorney General Lisa Marchese discussed keeping secret all of the documents relating to the case. Mills agreed, according to court clerks.

According to a report published Thursday in the Portland Press Herald, Sandora called 911 on Monday to report that her boyfriend had shot her and a friend. She spoke for more than a half-minute, then the call went dead.

“My boyfriend just shot me. He shot his friend, too. I’ve got four kids,” Sandora said, according to a sworn police affidavit obtained by the Press Herald. Sandora reported from outside her New Gloucester home that Hayden was inside with her car keys and their children were in her car.

Sandora could be heard on the 911 tape talking to someone else, according to the report.

“What — are you going to kill me in front of my kids?” she asked.

The 7-year-old son of Sandora and Hayden apparently witnessed the shootings, according to neighbors and police. The child, whose name is tattooed on Hayden’s neck, told a detective that his parents had been arguing about visiting “Auntie” and that Hayden was holding car keys away from Sandora, according to the Press Herald report. The boy told police that Hayden pushed Mills through a door, breaking the glass, before he shot at Mills and Sandora.

Neighbors saw the child running in the yard, yelling, “Don’t shoot!” and, “Don’t leave!” as a car sped away, the report says. Hayden was arrested and held at a hospital in police custody Monday night after he crashed a Cadillac he was driving. He had been in the hospital until Wednesday afternoon, when he was charged in connection with the killings. Autopsies were expected to be held today at the Maine Office of the Chief Medical Examiner in Augusta.

Hayden and Sandora had four children together — the 7-year-old boy is the eldest and the youngest are 3-month-old twins. Another child is 2 years old. They have been placed in the custody of Sandora’s grandparents in New Gloucester.

Sandora’s parents said Sandora and Hayden had been arguing constantly since June and that Sandora would kick out Hayden, who would return later. They said Hayden was accusing her of having a relationship with Mills, according to the Press Herald’s published report.

In 2008, Sandora filed protection-from-abuse orders twice in Portland District Court against Hayden, according to court papers. The first time, Sandora failed to appear at a scheduled hearing; the second time, she asked that the judge’s order be dismissed.

She had accused Hayden of pushing her and verbally harassing and threatening her. She also wrote that he stole her vehicle. She said he threatened to tie her up and burn down her house with her in it and to “kill anyone in my house and (drown) me in their blood.” She also wrote that he threatened to, “cut out my unborn child (8 wks pregnant.)”

Hayden was granted supervised visits with his then-4-year-old son. Hayden appeared remorseful in letters he wrote from the Maine Correctional Center in Windham, seeking Sandora’s forgiveness. He said that taking pills every day affected his behavior.

“I be thinking nuts. I talk crazy … weird Paranoid skitso is a real good word for it,” he wrote in a letter.

Sun Journal staff writer Christopher Williams and the Portland Press Herald contributed to this report.

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