BANGOR – The man accused in the 1989 murder of Joseph Cloak Jr. of Ellsworth pleaded not guilty during his arraignment Thursday in Penobscot County Superior Court.

Patrick Alexandre, 45, was indicted last November by a Penobscot County grand jury for the murder of 27-year-old Joseph Cloak Jr. of Ellsworth. Alexandre was being held in Penobscot County Jail Thursday.

Authorities believe Alexandre, who is originally from Maine but most recently resided in Parkersburg, W.Va., killed Cloak and buried him in a shallow grave on a Bradford woodlot 13 years ago.

Superior Court Justice Andrew Mead set Alexandre’s bail at $250,000.

According to Assistant District Attorney Mike Roberts, who stood in for the Maine Attorney General’s Office during the arraignment, Donald Brown of Bangor is serving as Alexandre’s court-appointed attorney. Roberts noted that even if Alexandre was able to post bail, he would remain in custody on an unrelated federal charge.

Alexandre was already serving time in a West Virginia federal prison for violating the conditions of his release from a marijuana cultivation conviction when he was indicted by a Penobscot County grand jury last November.

If convicted of murder, Alexandre likely would have to complete his prison sentence in West Virginia before beginning one in Maine, Roberts noted.

Alexandre violated his West Virginia parole conditions and his probation was revoked. He was ordered back to prison, but convinced a judge to allow him time to finish up some business with the agreement that he would check himself into prison on a specific date. Instead, Alexandre headed to Maine where he was arrested on Nov. 22, 2000, at a weigh station on Interstate 95 in Old Town. Authorities in West Virginia believed he was headed to Canada.

At the time of his arrest in Old Town, Alexandre initially identified himself as someone else; however, a prescription bottle of Viagra had Alexandre’s name on it. Police found Alexandre’s identification in his van and after running a check on him, learned he was wanted on a warrant issued on behalf of the U.S. Marshal’s Office out of Charleston, W. Va. Police records also showed Alexandre had a history of violence and escape.

While he sat in Penobscot County Jail waiting to be returned to West Virginia, Alexandre allegedly decided to try to make a deal with authorities in Maine. Just a week after he was arrested in Maine, Alexandre reportedly led authorities to the woodlot in Bradford and they unearthed Cloak’s body.

Details about how Cloak was killed were not immediately available. Sources told the Bangor Daily News Cloak’s death came after a dispute about drugs.