Anthony G. Bechand

BRIGHTON — The man who was arrested Friday, after a massive 13-day fugitive search in the Brighton-Paul Smiths area after being accused in the stabbing death of his ex-girlfriend in Cohoes was formally charged with murder on Monday.

Anthony G. Bechand, 53, allegedly killed Amanda Margaret “Mandee” Rodriguez, 41, at her home in Cohoes on the morning of Sept. 13. The next day, license plate readers and ground searching led to his truck being found 150 miles away, at the intersection of county Route 60 and state Route 86 in Gabriels, having run out of gas.

Rodriguez was born in Malone and worked for a short time at Paul Smith’s College. She was buried at St. Joseph’s Cemetery in Malone on Monday, the same day Bechand was arraigned. Photos from her mother on social media show purple flowers surrounding her gravestone — with purple being the color for domestic violence awareness.

Cohoes Police Chief Todd Waldin said Bechand apparently was staying in a hunting camp in the area for nearly two weeks as numerous local, state and federal law enforcement agencies searched the woods for him.

On Friday morning, he was arrested 5 minutes after two eyewitnesses saw him shaking apple trees on Easy Street near the Brighton town hall, three miles down the road from where his truck was found.

The two locals recognized Bechand from media and police reports and called in the sighting to the police.

To read more about the eyewitness accounts, go to tinyurl.com/7usxkpd8.

Waldin said, based on what Bechand told troopers after he was arrested, it is believed he was staying in a hunting camp. Police are still trying to find the exact camp, Waldin said. Last week, he had said police searched around 270 of an estimated 1,000 homes, hunting camps and structures in the area.

The search had covered more than 600 miles of recorded tracks over an area covering more than 950 acres.

It has not been made public exactly why Bechand fled here. Waldin said, based on troopers’ and deputies’ interaction with Bechand as they arrested him, they believe he was giving up.

They said he identified himself quickly and was arrested without incident. Waldin said he was likely “beaten down by the conditions.” He may have had a superficial injury, causing his blood to be found in the truck.

His arrest came one day after a press conference held at the State Police Troop B Headquarters in Ray Brook, when police said they had no leads on the investigation. Police found no phone or financial records from Bechand during the 13-day manhunt and he had not been caught on any local camera footage the police found at the time.

Bechand was arraigned in Albany County Court before Judge Roger McDonough on Monday. He was charged with second-degree murder, first-degree burglary and tampering with physical evidence, all felonies. He pleaded not guilty to all charges.

The murder charge includes “intent,” the burglary charge comes because he allegedly forced his way into the home, according to Albany County District Attorney Lee Kindlon, and the tampering charge comes from him allegedly removing the batteries in a Ring camera.

Waldin said the batteries were allegedly removed after the murder. But the camera automatically uploaded video to an external cloud storage server, so it is included in the evidence, he said.

Waldin said the two may have recently broken up and Bechand was allegedly kicked out of the house.

Rodriguez’s mother had not heard from her on Sept. 14, so she asked Rodriguez’s friend to check on her. The friend found her body and called the police.

The murder weapon has been found to be a knife, according to the indictment.

Her death has been ruled a homicide with the cause of death being hemorrhagic shock, lacerated aorta and multiple pulmonary lacerations from multiple sharp force trauma.

The next court date for this case has been scheduled for Nov. 7.

A temporary order of protection has been issued for Rodriguez’s family for the next year.

Bechand is being held in custody without bail at Albany County Jail as McDonough said he is “the definition of a flight risk.”

Assistant Public Defender Kyan Peffer, who is representing Bechand, plans to make a formal bail application, according to the Times Union.

The case is being prosecuted by Albany County Assistant District Attorney Alyssa Congdon of the Special Victims Unit.

Waldin said the media and public’s concentration had been on Bechand and finding him, rightfully so. But he hopes that people will focus similar energy on the victim and supporting her family though their loss.

Rodriguez was born in Malone to Robert Bell and Crystal McNamara Rodriguez, according to her obituary. She had a brother, a stepfather “who she admired very much and referred to as dad,” and four “fur babies” whom she loved as children.

To read her full obituary, go to tinyurl.com/3r6f4c6f.

The U.S. Marshals Task Force, state Forest Rangers, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the Cohoes, Saranac Lake, Lake Placid, Plattsburgh and Ticonderoga police departments; the Franklin, Essex and Clinton county sheriff’s office; the Northern Regional Response Team, and the Franklin County District Attorney’s Office all worked on the investigation.