Forty-year-old Jean Jacques, a convicted felon accused of fatally stabbing 25-year-old Casey Chadwick on June 15 in Norwich, kept his eyes closed and refused to respond to court officials when he made his first appearance today in the New London court where major crimes are heard.

Jacques, brought to the court from the Corrigan-Radgowski Correctional Center, where he is being held on $1.1 million in bonds, was brought into the courtroom in a wheelchair when he refused to cooperate with judicial marshals and Department of Correction officers. He kept his eyes closed throughout the brief proceeding and did not respond when Judge Hillary B. Strackbein addressed him. He also refused to speak with attorney Kevin Barrs, who was appointed to represent him, and a Haitian interpreter who sat at his side.

"Just for the record, the defendant seems unresponsive," Strackbein said. "His eyes are closed. He's not saying anything."

As a defendant in a murder case, he is entitled to a hearing of probable cause within 60 days of his arrest at which the state would prove it has enough evidence to prosecute him. The judge waived the time limit so that Barrs can speak with Jacques on another day.

Senior Assistant State's Attorney David J. Smith, who will be prosecuting the case, noted that Jacques, who was recently released from prison on parole after serving most of a 21-year sentence for attempted murder, has been remanded back to prison based on the alleged parole violation.

According to an arrest warrant affidavit, Chadwick's boyfriend, Jean Joseph, told police that Chadwick had sent him a text message on June 15 saying "Zoe," an acquaintance of both Chadwick and Joseph, was at her residence.

Joseph told police he then called Zoe's cellphone, and the man confirmed he was at the apartment.

Joseph told police he and a friend later couldn't find Chadwick, and they went to her apartment, which was in disarray. Joseph found her body in a closet. Joseph told police some drugs — about 1½ ounces of marijuana and a half ounce of crack cocaine — were missing from Chadwick's apartment.

Norwich police arrested Jacques for a drug sale that day and obtained a murder warrant based, in part, on a state forensic laboratory test indicating that DNA found on an item in Chadwick's apartment matched a DNA profile of Jacques.

Jacques is on parole for a 1996 shooting on Laurel Hill Avenue that left a man dead and a woman critically injured. He was arraigned last Tuesday in Superior Court in Norwich on the drug charges and remains held.

He was convicted in 1997 of attempted murder and carrying a pistol without a permit. He was sentenced to 20 years in prison, suspended after 16 years followed by five years of probation.

He is due back in court in August.

k.florin@thday.com