WATERVILLE (AP) – The Utah parolee accused of kidnapping and murdering a Colby College student wore a bulletproof vest as he faced the charges in court for the first time Thursday.

Edward J. Hackett, 47, appeared somewhat dazed but gave prompt one-word answers when District Court Judge John Nivison asked if he knew why he was in court and understood the charges against him.

Hackett is charged with abducting Dawn Rossignol, 21, of Medway, after she left her dorm Sept. 16 on the campus of the Waterville liberal arts college. Her body was found the following day near a dam along Messalonskee Stream in nearby Oakland.

At one point during his brief appearance in Waterville District Court, Hackett laughed as he spoke to his court-appointed lawyer, Pamela Ames. She later explained that Hackett, who was restrained with handcuffs and leg irons, was commenting on his clumsiness in the courtroom.

Hackett, who’s growing an unruly graying beard, was not required to enter a plea. The judge ordered that he be held without bail and scheduled a Nov. 18 probable cause hearing in the case. Nivison agreed to allow both prosecution and the defense to conduct psychiatric evaluations of Hackett.

Deputy Attorney General Bill Stokes said after the hearing that it made sense to ask for such an examination because Hackett spent a couple of years in an Utah mental health hospital and has a history of psychiatric problems.

Despite Ames’ interest in a psychiatric evaluation, she said she does not currently have questions about Hackett’s competency to stand trial.

Hackett was paroled from an Utah state prison after serving time for kidnapping and robbing a woman in a 1994 case reminiscent of Rossignol’s slaying. In March he moved to Vassalboro to be with his parents.

Since Hackett’s arrest last week, police have not explained how the dean’s list student died, and prosecutors are trying to keep details of their investigation under wraps.

Nivison said he would schedule a hearing on whether the police affidavit should be made public after prosecutors turned it over to the court. Deputy Attorney General Bill Stokes said that would happen Thursday.

Authorities don’t want to disclose the circumstances of Rossignol’s death because their investigation is ongoing, and since doing so could jeopardize Hackett’s right to a fair trial, Stokes told reporters.

Ames, a former state prosecutor, said she currently has no plans to ask that the trial be moved. But considering the case’s intense media coverage, “Kennebec County is probably not a place where we’d be able to get a fair and impartial jury,” she said.

Hackett wore a bulletproof vest over his orange prison uniform, and Ames said after the hearing that she’d expressed concerns about her client’s safety.

AP-ES-10-02-03 1539EDT