ROCKLAND – Accused murderer Jerome Reynolds II, 54, of Brooks was ordered held without bail Tuesday after a hearing in Knox County Superior Court.

Reynolds has been charged with the Sept. 29 shotgun slaying of Janet Bacon, 60, of Brooks. Bacon was killed by a single 12-gauge shotgun blast to the face shortly after entering Reynolds’ home on Purple Heart Highway in Brooks last Wednesday night.

Despite testimony from family members, friends and work associates attesting to Reynolds’ good nature and gentle demeanor, Justice Donald H. Martin denied the request for bail and ordered Reynolds held until his trial, according to the court reporter who attended the hearing.

Marden cited the violent nature of the crime and the fact that Bacon was unarmed, defenseless and posed no apparent threat to Reynolds as the reasons bail was denied.

Bacon was a close friend of companion of Jerome Reynolds Sr., Reynolds’ 76-year-old father.

State police detective Scott Bryant testified that Bacon apparently had been upset with the elder Reynolds because he had been playing cards with a group of elderly women at the local senior citizens center. The two apparently had words and Reynolds decided to go to his son’s home to avoid further confrontation.

Bryant said the son and father were watching a Boston Red Sox game on television when a vehicle pulled in the yard and began honking its horn. At some point, Bacon left the vehicle and entered the home. She was wearing slippers and a hospital johnny.

Bryant testified that the younger Reynolds told Bacon to leave and went to a closet for his double-barreled shotgun when she did not. Bacon was shot in the face with a single blast of triple-ought buckshot. She died instantly.

Bryant noted that the gun had a shell in the other barrel and that there was a number of loaded long guns and handguns in the Reynolds home. The elder Reynolds witnessed the shooting. The younger Reynolds called the Waldo County Sheriff’s Department to report the crime.

During the hearing, Reynolds II was described as a good father and kind friend. A 30-year employee of the Department of Transportation, Reynolds was described in similar terms by a longtime co-worker. Reynolds had no criminal record.

Assistant Attorney General Fern LaRochelle represented the state at the hearing and Bangor attorney Jeffrey Silverstein represented Reynolds.