ALFRED — A man charged with murder in a beating that led to a Portland-area woman’s death told investigators someone else is responsible for what happened to Elizabeth Williams.

Williams, 55, was found badly beaten earlier this month in a Saco motel room and later died of her injuries.

Lebon Bruno, 39, is charged with murder and gross sexual assault in connection with her death. He was ordered held without bail during a brief appearance Monday afternoon before Justice Paul Fritzsche at York County Superior Court.

Bruno, flanked by his court-appointed attorney, Clifford Strike, along with sheriff’s deputies, said little during the appearance. Assistant Attorney General Lisa Marchese asked for a no-bail order, which was granted.

Bruno’s next court appearance is set for Feb. 15, but that could change, Fritzsche said, depending on when the matter is presented to a grand jury for possible indictment.

Bruno had rented the room at the Sunrise Motel on Route 1 in Saco Nov. 2. A maid who entered the room at about 10:40 a.m. Nov. 3 found Williams in the bathtub, unconscious, bloody and bruised. Williams was taken to Maine Medical Center in Portland, where she died the following day. Saco Police Sgt. Corey Huntress told State Police detective Ethel Ross that Williams had several facial injuries as well as bruising on her chest and face, according to a police affidavit supporting Bruno’s arrest.

Court documents prepared by Ross outline interviews with Bruno, who first blames another man, whom he could not name, for Williams’ injuries. He then claimed Williams told him she was robbed by “the Somalis” and beat on the head. Later, Bruno allegedly told police that the motel owner was responsible for Williams’ injuries.

Both Williams and Bruno have been homeless, and in the past, frequented the Preble Street Resource Center’s Adult Shelter in Portland, according to Maine Public Safety spokesman Steve McCausland, who said the two had a relationship. Strike, Bruno’s court appointed attorney, said following Monday’s hearing, however, the two did not have an intimate relationship but were friends.

Strike pointed out that just about two weeks had elapsed between Williams’ death and Bruno’s arrest, and Bruno could have left the area ”“ he has relatives in New York ”“ but didn’t.

Bruno wasn’t around when police initially arrived at the motel room Nov. 3, but showed up while they were there. He allegedly told officers he went to the store to buy cigarettes and then to the Portland Public Library. He allegedly said Williams was fine when he left and that she told him she was going to take a bath. Then he said a man she knew beat her up and later claimed a group of Somalis had beat and robbed her. He allegedly told police he put Williams in the tub to clean her up after she was assaulted, that she was bleeding from the mouth and that he took her out of the tub and put her on the bed.

When Bruno accompanied police to the station for an interview, Bruno complained his right hand was hurting and an officer noticed he had scraped knuckles and scrapes on his knee. Ross wrote that Bruno began to cry and said, “You should see the blood.”

Bruno then told Saco police he rented the room Nov. 2 and Williams joined him a short while later. They went out for Chinese food and then a supermarket to buy Coke and gin, and drank throughout the evening. He said Williams passed out on the bed and woke up sometime later to tell him she was going out. He said when she returned, she had been beaten. She allegedly claimed she had been robbed, and Bruno told police she had about $120 left from a $400 or $500 state check. Bruno then took a cab to the Portland Public Library.

He claimed what happened to Williams could have been a drug deal gone bad. Evidence taken by police that day from Bruno showed scratches on his back, abrasions on his knuckles, right knee and between his eyes and red stains on his penis, according to the affidavit.

A nurse conducting a forensic exam on Williams noted that she had severe bruising to her left eye and eye socket area, a broken nose and front teeth, and bruising around the neck, and it appeared she had been sexually assaulted. Hospital staff told police Williams had a non-survivable brain injury. She died at 11:57 a.m. Nov. 4.

Bruno allegedly told Ross that Williams was alive when he went to the supermarket that morning and claimed that the motel owner had beaten the woman.

Strike, Bruno’s attorney, said his client is college-educated and has family members in Queens, N.Y. He is on disability, but Strike declined to say why. He said some of the alleged inconsistencies in his statements may be because of his accent. He was born in New York, but is of Haitian descent, said Strike.

Strike said Bruno had known Williams for five years or more and reiterated that his client could have left the state, but did not.

Marchese, the prosecutor, said Bruno was a suspect early on and that DNA evidence affirmed investigators’ original suspicions.

“She had her struggles, but like any victim of domestic violence, she needs all the help she can get,” said Marchese.

— Senior Staff Writer Tammy Wells can be contacted at 324-4444 (local call in Sanford) or 282-1535, Ext. 327 or twells@journaltribune.com.