SOUTH PARIS — A Hartford man charged with murdering his longtime girlfriend in 2018 is set to go to trial Tuesday.
Rondon Athayde
Rondon Athayde, 49, faces from 25 years to life in prison if convicted in the slaying of Ana Cordeiro, who was 41 when she was reported dead at their home at 62 Bear Mountain Road on Dec. 13, 2018.
The death was reported just after midnight, according to Stephen McCausland, then-spokesman for the Maine Department of Public Safety. The cause of death was to be released later, he said.
As of last week, documents related to the cause were not immediately available at the Oxford County courthouse.
The couple’s two children, ages 3 and 4, were at home at the time of Cordeiro’s death. They were taken into protective custody with the Department of Health and Human Services, police said.
The trial is scheduled for three days in Oxford County Superior Court.
Athayde had argued last summer that statements he made to police after calling 911 report the incident should be suppressed.
His attorney, Clifford Strike of Portland, argued Athayde had been interviewed by police for nearly eight hours, including a walk through his home to explain what happened.
Athayde said he’d taken care of his young daughters the day before and had been awake since he placed the 911 call shortly before 1 a.m. the morning of his interview with police, Strike said.
Athayde had complained to police that he felt tired, sick, faint.
Detectives had read him his Miranda rights warning before the morning interviews and reminded him again of his rights before the 4:41 p.m. walk-through of the crime scene, prosecutors said.
Justice William Stokes denied Athayde’s motion to suppress his statements at trial.
The couple were from Brazil; a Portuguese interpreter was on standby during the earlier hearing in case Athayde had difficulty understanding English terms used in the courtroom.
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