FARMINGTON — A Massachusetts man pleaded not guilty Friday to killing an 81-year-old Farmington woman in June 2011.

Juan Contreras, 27, of Waltham, appeared in Franklin County Superior Court to answer the charge of murder. He continues to be held without bail in Somerset County Jail in Madison, where he was taken after his arrest Nov. 17 in Massachusetts.

His attorney, David Sanders, told Justice Michaela Murphy he had no request for bail.

Murphy gave Sanders 60 days to file motions, and said she’ll hear them the first two weeks in April.

Contreras is accused of stabbing Grace Burton of Farmington 35 times after climbing through a window in her first-floor apartment in the early hours of June 21, according to a police affidavit. She managed to call 911 and gave authorities a brief description of her attacker.

Burton died of her wounds later that morning at a Farmington hospital.

At the time of the murder, Contreras lived at 114 Pillsbury Lane, less than a quarter-mile from Burton’s residence at Margaret Chase Smith Apartments on Route 4.

He voluntarily gave a DNA sample to Maine State Police on Nov. 16 in Massachusetts and Maine State Police matched it to DNA from blood at the scene. 

If convicted, Contreras faces 25 years to life in prison, Justice Murphy said Friday.

dperry@sunjournal.com