TOMS RIVER, N.J. – A nurse accused in the dismemberment slayings of two men was returned to New Jersey to face the charges Wednesday.

Richard W. Rogers, Jr., 50, of Staten Island, N.Y., appeared before Superior Court Judge Peter J. Giovine and was taken to the Ocean County Jail, where he is being held on $1 million bail.

Rogers, a nurse at Mount Sinai Medical Center, is charged with two counts of knowing or purposeful murder in the deaths of Thomas Mulcahy, 58, of Sudbury, Mass., and Anthony E. Marrero, 44, of New York.

Remains of the victims were found in plastic bags. The break in the case came in the spring, when fingerprints from the bags were matched with prints of Rogers in Maine, where he beat a manslaughter charge 27 years ago.

Rogers was a student at the University of Maine in Orono before being charged with manslaughter in the beating death of UM graduate student Frederic A. Spencer.

Rogers entered no plea during his brief court appearance Wednesday, answering yes and no questions from the judge.