ALFRED, Maine (AP) — A Massachusetts man charged with fatally beating a woman on a Maine beach is due to make his first appearance in court Tuesday.

Jeffrey Buchannan, 33, of Bedford, Massachusetts, is charged in the killing of his domestic partner, Rhonda Pattelena, 35, at Short Sands Beach in York, officials said. He was due to appear before a judge in York County.

The horrifying attack that happened behind a rock on the beach prompted multiple 911 calls to York police on Friday.

Pattelena was already dead when police arrived; an autopsy concluded she died from blunt force trauma to the head.

State police said the two were domestic partners and had one mutual child. The child wasn’t present during the attack.

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