PORTLAND — William Hanaman, who police say killed his estranged girlfriend last week and then tried to kill himself, continues to be suicidal and will be treated at the state's Riverview Psychiatric Center, authorities said Wednesday.

Hanaman, 51, made his initial court appearance on the murder charge Wednesday morning and will continue to be held without bail.

However, prosecutors asked – and his lawyer agreed – that Hanaman be transferred from the Cumberland County Jail, where he has been on suicide watch, to the state's psychiatric facility in Augusta.

"This has nothing to do with criminal responsibility" in the killing of 47-year-old Marion Shea, said Deputy Attorney General William Stokes. "The thinking was, 'Let's get him to a facility where we can stabilize him and at least reduce the risk of suicide.'"

Many of Shea's family members attended Wednesday's hearing, one daughter weeping as Hanaman was led, handcuffed, into the courtroom. His expression was blank, and he answered Superior Court Justice Thomas Warren's questions in a clipped monotone.

"I felt sick to my stomach," Shea's daughter Stacy Vankeuren said later.

Vankeuren, of Brunswick, said Hanaman had family dinners with Shea's relatives and played for hours with Shea's grandchildren. "He taught my daughter tick-tack-toe," she said.

Police found Shea's body in Hanaman's apartment on Ocean Avenue on Nov. 11. They also found Hanaman, who was unconscious and surrounded by pills, authorities said. Police did not release details of Hanaman's medical treatment.

Police were called to the apartment after Hanaman's sister called the landlord and said she was worried about his well-being. It was not immediately clear why Hanaman's sister was worried.

Authorities have yet to disclose how Shea died, though additional details about the case may become available today.

Hanaman did not regain consciousness for two days after he was found. Portland police charged him with murder Tuesday, transferring him from a hospital to the jail.

Also Wednesday, Hanaman entered a not guilty plea to a charge of domestic violence assault stemming from an incident with Shea on Oct. 7. He failed to show up for his initial court date on that charge.

Richard Thompson, the son with whom Shea lived, questioned why a man with Hanaman's criminal history – he had previous convictions for aggravated assault and criminal threatening – could skip court and not have police go to his apartment to find him.

Thompson said his mother's death was a tragic end to a difficult life. "Her whole life, she was abused by these type of men."

Shea had low self-esteem and problems with drugs and alcohol, he said. That cost her custody of her children.

But in recent years, the family had reconciled. Shea was introduced to her grandchildren, whom she adored. "We all gave her a second chance at life," Thompson said.

"She was a wonderful grandmother," said Vankeuren. "Her life was about her grandchildren."

But in the end, "she couldn't rise above all the bad stuff that happened in her life," Vankeuren said.

In the days before her death, Hanaman was driving back and forth in front of Thompson's Gorham home and calling, trying to find out where Shea was, said Nasha Maynard, Thompson's wife.

Relatives don't know why Shea was at Hanaman's apartment, though some believe he saw her walking along Congress Street and offered her a ride, or that she was trying to retrieve some belongings from his apartment.

Hanaman will receive a psychological evaluation at Riverview. The results will be impounded until a judge decides whether they should be presented as evidence in any future proceedings regarding Hanaman's mental state at the time of the killing.

Staff Writer David Hench can be contacted at 791-6327 or at:

dhench@pressherald.com