Bond up to $1.5M for man suspected in Chaplin death. Police report details day of murder.

A New London man suspected of brutally and fatally assaulting a Chaplin man earlier this month has been extradited back to Connecticut.

Matthew Candler, 55, was arraigned in Danielson Superior Court on Tuesday on a first-degree assault charge stemming from a May 1 incident in which 51-year-old Jeffrey Rawson was found dead inside a 214 Miller Road residence.

Supervisory Assistant State's Attorney Lou Luba said Candler's bond was raised to $1.5 million.

Anne Mahoney, state’s attorney for the Windham Judicial District, said her office is waiting for a medical examiner’s report on Rawson before deciding whether to file additional charges in the case.

Candler, who police said fled the state and was later captured in New Hampshire, was transferred to Connecticut State Police custody on Monday after waiving extradition, according to a criminal information summary.

Previously: Chaplin murder suspect, arrested in NH, once threatened to decapitate someone, police say

Candler, of 21 Dell Ave., was initially held on a $500,000 bond.

What happened in the hours before Rawson's death on May 1?

According to a state police arrest warrant application, state troopers were dispatched to Miller Road at approximately 5:54 a.m. on May 1 for a report of an assault. On arrival, police found Rawson seated in the living room with cuts and bruises on his head and body. Nearby objects appeared to be covered in blood, police said.

Three other individuals were also in the home, one who said she was awoken hours before by an angry Candler who slapped her and proceeded to run room-to-room threatening that “If anyone moves, I’ll kill you all,” she said, according to police.

She said Candler spent the next few hours in a rage, hurling furniture and striking Rawson, who she said had blood trickling down his face.

Killingly High School mascot: Does the use of Killingly High School's old Red Hawk logo 'defy authority'? AD responds.

A second witness told police she and Candler arrived at the residence on May 1 after their vehicle broke down. She said Candler and Rawson worked on the broken truck and she later heard “bickering” in the living room, the warrant states.

She said someone kicked her in the face and she woke up to find Rawson propped up against a couch, gasping. She returned from calling 911 to discover Candler gone and Rawson’s face bloodied, “like melted magma with dark dried blood, with smudges of blood on the floor,” the warrant states.

A third witness told police he saw Candler repeatedly punch Rawson in the face and later strike him with a lamp. He said Candler at one point used a cane to “smack” Rawson who was moaning on the floor.

Police said they found indications of a “violent struggle” at the home with pools of blood soaked into the living room floor and blood splatter flung onto walls and doors. Broken furniture littered the scene, much of it smeared with blood, police said.

Previously: Chaplin murder suspect's truck found in Massachusetts. Police are still hunting for him.

Police said Rawson had several large cuts on his head, along with swelling and bruising.

Police later interviewed a woman who said Candler called her shortly after he allegedly fled the Chaplin home. She said Candler, in a rambling conversation, indicated he had “tried” to stay out of trouble and that police wouldn’t “take him,” according to the warrant.

Later that night in Woodstock, Maine, Candler allegedly tried to get an individual to modify the appearance of his truck. The witness said Candler told him “something really bad happened in Connecticut,” police said.

Candler, having previously abandoned his vehicle in Massachusetts, was captured on May 3 by police in Seabrook, New Hampshire at a local hotel.

“Just kill me,” he told police as he was led out of the hotel, the warrant states.

John Penney can be reached at jpenney@norwichbulletin.com or at (860) 857-6965

This article originally appeared on The Bulletin: New London man suspected in Chaplin man's death extradited back to CT