Rhonda Pattelena was standing on a beach in York, Maine, with her boyfriend Jeffrey Buchannan, when he allegedly attacked her from behind, striking her in the head in view of at least two horrified eyewitnesses, according to Maine State Police.
Buchannan, who weighs about 175 pounds and is 6-foot-1, allegedly delivered the blows first with his hands and also with a rock police later recovered from Short Sands Beach, where Pattelena was fatally injured around 3:54 p.m. last Friday, police wrote in a report filed in court.
“Portions of the assault were captured on area business surveillance cameras,” Maine State Police Detective David Coflesky wrote in the report where he capitalized the names of the victim and her alleged killer. “I have observed these recordings and it shows BUCHANNAN strike PATTELENA while her back is turned to him, and he then strikes her several more times. Following the assault, videos show BUCHANNAN walking away from the scene alone.”
Two eyewitnesses who called 911 last Friday both told police that they saw a man wearing a black hoodie, grey jeans, and red sneakers attack the person on the beach. “They observed this same male dragging a body behind the rocks on Short Sands Beach,” Coflesky wrote in the court document first reported by the Portland Press Herald.
Police said one call reporting the assault was received at 3:54 p.m. and the same caller told police at 3:58 p.m. the attacker was walking away from the victim and toward York Wild Kingdom.
Buchannan, according to police, walked away from where Pattelena’s body lay and into the town’s beachfront neighborhood heading toward the Fun-O-Rama arcade on Beach Street and then onto Railroad Avenue, the center of the resort town’s business community, he wrote. One eyewitness directed the officer at Buchannan, who was taken into custody without incident, police wrote.
Buchannan made his initial appearance in York County Superior Court Tuesday via Zoom where Justice Wayne Douglas ordered him to undergo a mental health evaluation as requested by defense attorney Jon Gale. He was also ordered held without bail and his currently scheduled to return to court April 12.
The court hearing was brief, and no information about evidence against Buchannan was discussed. During the appearance, Buchannan wore what appeared to be a jail-issued long sleeved orange sweatshirt, a blue face mask and a pair of handcuffs. He did not speak.
Buchannan is 33 years old; Pattelena was 35 years old, and both lived in Bedford, Mass., according to Maine State Police.
Pattelena was declared dead at the scene by first responders who reported that she had suffered trauma to her head and that the sand at the beach was stained with her blood. They also recovered a “rock that appeared to have been used as a weapon during the assault,” police wrote.
Buchannan was taken to the town police station where he allegedly agreed to speak with police after being given his Miranda warning against self-incrimination, Coflesky wrote. He told police he came to the beach town with Pattelena, whom he identified as his girlfriend.
“BUCHANNAN advised that while on the beach together, he observed a male running towards him and saw RHONDA making hand gestures, behind BUCHANNAN,” Coflesky wrote. “BUCHANNAN advised that he felt threatened... [and] that he ‘blacked out.’ ”
“When asked if he remembered anything, he advised that he first recalled, breathing heavy and that RHONDA was laying on the ground,” Coflesky wrote. “He advised that he walked away at that point, leaving RHONDA behind.”
Buchannan refused to talk to police further, and was later charged with murder. He is scheduled to be arraigned Tuesday in York County Superior Court in Alfred, officials said. He has been held in custody since his arrest.
Pattelena’s sister, Jessica, and longtime friend, Melissa Matranga, told the Globe that she was the mother of three boys, including a two-year-old boy fathered by Buchannan. The Pattelena family spent some time every summer at the beaches at York. A GoFundMe campaign organized by Matranga is ongoing.
“She was an amazing mother and she was raising some amazing kids. She always did her best for them,” Jessica Pattelena said. “She had the most beautiful soul you could ever meet. All she ever wanted to do was to help people.”
The fatal attack in York was at least the second time that Buchannan had physically attacked Pattelena. In 2017, he pleaded guilty to assaulting her in Lawrence and kidnapping her and her two sons from earlier relationships, court records show. Buchannan was sentenced to two years behind bars, according to Essex District Attorney Jonathan Blodgett’s office.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
John R. Ellement can be reached at john.ellement@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @JREbosglobe.
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