PARIS — A Hartford man charged with murder in the death of his longtime girlfriend was ordered held without bail following his initial appearance at Oxford County Superior Court on Friday morning.

Rondon Athayde, 46, is charged with killing Ana Cordeiro, 41. The couple have two children, ages 3 and 4.

A follow-up hearing, at which Athayde may enter a plea, had yet to be scheduled, according to a clerk at the Oxford County Superior Court.

The death was reported just after midnight Thursday inside a house at 62 Bear Mountain Road, according to Stephen McCausland, spokesman for the Maine Department of Public Safety.

Cordeiro lived at the house with her boyfriend and their two daughters, according to Maine State Police Lt. Mark Holmquist.

Superior Court Justice Thomas E. Delahanty II granted a motion by Assistant Attorney General Robert Ellis to seal the arrest affidavit, a sworn statement detailing the investigation.

Ellis said an autopsy was performed on Cordeiro on Thursday, but a final report on the cause of death “may not be released until January.”

Jeff Wilson, who is serving as Athayde’s attorney, requested that Cordeiro’s body be held for 30 days so an independent pathologist could perform a second autopsy.

Ellis said he objected to the request and was “not comfortable with it.”

“The reality is that the deceased is from Brazil and we’ve had difficulties getting in touch with her family or a next of kin,” Ellis said. “I don’t like the notion of her being held if her family wishes to take custody of her body, bring her home and have a proper burial service.”

Delahanty allowed Cordeiro’s body to be held for seven days.

Rondon Athayde, 46, sits in the courtroom at Oxford County Superior Court on Friday morning as he waits for his initial appearance to begin. Athayde was charged Thursday evening with murder in the death of his longtime girlfriend, Ana Cordeiro. (Matthew Daigle/Sun Journal)

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