SPRINGVALE — A sobbing woman and a man who shouted, “Remember this face” accosted Raymond Junkins in a crowded courtroom Wednesday during his initial appearance on a murder charge.

Clad in orange jail garb, Junkins, 42, sat alone in the prisoner’s dock as a group of unidentified people confronted him after District Court Judge Andre Janelle recessed the brief session.

“Please clear the courtroom,” District Attorney Michael Cantara instructed the group. The prosecutor said he didn’t recognize the people, who declined to speak to reporters.

“The outburst in the courtroom was disturbing,” Cantara said later, adding that court security was especially bad in Springvale.

Junkins was returned to the York County Jail, where he was being held without bail in the stabbing death last Thursday of Howard LaFoe, 63, who lived with Junkins’ 87-year-old grandmother in an apartment building in downtown Sanford.

Janelle continued the case until Monday for a full bail hearing.

In court papers, Junkins was portrayed as a man who was determined to obtain money from his grandmother, Verna Junkins, to pay a debt.

The investigation that ultimately led to her grandson began when Verna Junkins appeared in a battered condition in the lobby of the Sanford police station Thursday evening.

The woman gave conflicting accounts of what happened, and the investigation initially focused on the possibility that she and LaFoe had come to blows themselves.

Investigators later spoke to Frances Knight, who lived with Raymond Junkins in Lebanon. Knight said that if Junkins, an itinerant construction worker, couldn’t get an advance from his employer, he would approach his grandmother and “wasn’t going to allow Howie to get in the way,” according to an affidavit filed by Sgt. Matthew Stewart of the Maine State Police.

Junkins came home Thursday with a “wad of bills” and told Knight he had stolen the money and had gotten blood on his shirt, according to Stewart’s affidavit.

Junkins’ landlord, Cathleen Belanger, told police Junkins came to her house Thursday evening with $1,480 in $20 bills to pay rent, a telephone bill and a bail loan, according to Stewart’s affidavit.

Questioned about it, Junkins replied, “Money is money” and “not to worry about it.”

After being placed under surveillance Saturday night, Junkins was picked up for allegedly driving on a suspended license. During an interview in Milton, N.H., Junkins professed “significant surprise” at news of LaFoe’s death and said “he had not seen his grandmother for about 1 1/2 weeks.”