Kenneth M. Dion, his head bald and his round face shaved clean, entered Judge John Suddock’s courtroom chained to three other prisoners. He told Suddock he didn’t have the money to hire an attorney and bail was set at $500,000. He left the room without saying another word.
“I’m a little bit disappointed that he didn’t speak or that they didn’t even read the charges,” said Karen Foster, Craig’s mother.
Dion was flown to Anchorage on Thursday from New Hampshire, where he has been in prison for a series of armed robberies. Dion was charged with Craig’s murder this spring after a national computer database matched his DNA to DNA found on Craig’s body.
Prosecutor Pat Gullufson said Dion will remain in Alaska through trial and said chances are slim he will be released on bail.
Besides the steep price, Dion is currently serving a 15-year sentence in New Hampshire that began in 2003 and won’t be eligible for parole there until August 2008, according to the New Hampshire Department of Corrections.
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