Robert E. Payette, 45, of West Warwick, appears in Kent County District Court yesterday for his arraignment on a murder charge.

The Providence Journal / Bill Murphy

WEST WARWICK — The man charged with stabbing a man to death over a debt spent nearly half of his life in jail and was arraigned yesterday on a first-degree murder charge.

Robert E. Payette, 45, of 19 Maple Ave., was arrested Sunday night and held without bail at the Adult Correctional Institutions while he waited to appear in Kent County District Court yesterday morning. No plea was entered at his arraignment yesterday. He is currently being held without bail. Payette is due back in court Nov. 26 for a bail hearing.

Someone contacted the state police Sunday night and said Payette stabbed a man at the River Run apartment complex on Maple Avenue, according to the police. The body was dumped into a hole at the bottom of a ravine leading to the Pawtuxet River behind the complex, the police said.

Yesterday, the police identified the victim as Ronald Dufour, 66, of 56 Maple Ave., adding that they believe the stabbing was over a dispute about a debt.

Payette’s sister, Lisa McDermott of Lake Alfred, Fla., said the state correctional system bears some blame for her brother’s alleged actions. McDermott said her brother had psychological issues that were not properly treated during the 22 years he was jailed. As a result, she said, Payette was ill-equipped to deal with the life he found outside the ACI walls.

“He was a broken, lonely old man who was not familiar with the world today,” McDermott said. “It was so long ago that he was in this world. I think the state is responsible for his actions because they didn’t take care of him. They dumped him out and said ‘Good luck.’ ”

Payette’s criminal history dates to at least 1980, when he was 19 years old.

On Oct. 7, 1980, Payette spent nine days in jail on breaking and entering charges, said Tracey Z. Poole, chief of information and public relations for the state Department of Corrections.

In 1981, he served a year in jail for entering a dwelling with felonious intent. Seven months into his sentence, Payette was charged with assault with intent to commit murder and felony assault with a dangerous weapon after he was accused of slashing an inmate’s throat with a pen-sized knife during a fight. He was found not guilty by a jury. Payette was released on Oct. 22, 1982, and by May, he was back in jail. This time, he faced charges of assault with intent to murder, breaking and entering, and possession of marijuana, Poole said. He was released on bail in June 1983 as he awaited trial. While on bail, in September 1984, Payette began a three-month sentence for failing to appear in court in connection with the 1983 assault charge.

In 1985, Payette was sentenced to serve seven years for stabbing Wilfred Gileau with a kitchen knife during a fight at the complex where Payette currently lives. He pleaded no contest to assault with intent to murder. In 1986, while he was jailed, another five days were tacked onto Payette’s sentence for possessing a weapon, according to Poole.

The following year, Payette was sentenced to another 18 years for robbing another inmate.

In December 1989, Payette stabbed corrections officer Michael Auyer in the upper chest and lower back with a homemade ice pick fashioned from a paint roller. Auyer’s spleen was punctured and he spent nine days in the hospital. Payette pleaded no contest to assault with the intent to murder and another five years was added to his sentence.

He was released from the ACI on March 22. A charge that he was a fugitive from justice was dismissed in April.

“He went from 22 years in hard-core prison to walking out of Kent County Courthouse with $200 in his pocket and no where to go,” McDermott said.

Payette’s brother, Michael, a former West Warwick police officer, helped him find an apartment and set up the utilities, McDermott said. Payette scoured the community looking for jobs before finding one at a local Burger King restaurant, she said. Shortly after taking the job, Payette broke his foot as he was walking across the parking lot of his complex, forcing him to quit his job. He became depressed, McDermott said. Her brother was depressed and cried when they spoke on the day of the murder, said McDermott, who spoke to Payette almost daily.

The two talked about committing Payette to a mental facility, McDermott said, so he could get treatment for his psychological issues. Payette is smart, McDermott said, with a talent for poetry. The oldest of four children, Payette served as a father figure after their parents divorced, McDermott said. He got into small scuffles with the law as a teen before he was jailed for much of his adult life.

“He was so happy and thankful to be out,” she said. “It turned ugly when he realized he couldn’t be normal in this world because no one accepted him. No matter how much love and support he got from his family, we couldn’t get a job for him. We couldn’t make the world give him a second chance.”

The ACI does have programs to help prisoners prepare for the transition to society, Poole said, and is focusing on lowering the recidivism rate. Poole did not know which programs, if any, Payette had been involved in during his time at the ACI.

“I don’t understand why someone with his criminal background was set free with no parole or probation,” Poole said. “Clearly, this is a situation where rehabilitation was not too successful.”

tbuford@projo.com