Woodstock -- A 79-year-old woman found dead inside her Curtis Hollow Road home Wednesday afternoon was the victim of a homicide, authorities said yesterday.

Vermont State Police said that “a person of interest” in the death of Raynetta Woodward is being held on burglary charges that arose from the homicide investigation.

Woodward was “killed by blunt trauma,” the Vermont chief medical examiner concluded yesterday after an autopsy.

Around midnight Wednesday, police arrested Charles “Punky” Haynes, who had been the focus of both police and public attention in recent weeks.

Haynes, 51, who is homeless but well-known in the Woodstock area, appeared in Vermont District Court in White River Junction yesterday, and pleaded not guilty to two counts of burglary and one count of unlawful trespass.

He was held in lieu of $50,000 bail at Southern State Correctional Facility in Springfield, Vt.

A few hours after the hearing, Vermont State Police announced Haynes was a person of interest in the homicide.

According to her obituary, Woodward was a widow who lived much of her life in the Twin States. (The obituary appears on Page A4.)

“Everybody loved her,” said neighbor Jim Farrand. “She was a good lady. She really was.”

An affidavit filed by Vermont State Police Trooper Eric Hudson gives the following account:

Shortly before 6 p.m. Wednesday, Woodstock police arrived at Woodward's home. Police officers found a large amount of blood in the home, and Woodward's body hidden under a pile of clothing. State police soon arrived on the scene.

Investigating recent burglaries in the area, Hudson had identified Haynes as a suspect in those incidents, but police had been unable to find him for questioning. Haynes, state police said, lived in the woods and in unoccupied camps.

Around 8 p.m., Jason Jillson, an old friend of Haynes, contacted authorities. Jillson told police that Haynes had telephoned him an hour earlier, “asking for a ride to get out of here,” according to the affidavit.

Police traced the phone Haynes had used to a chalet at 84 Curtis Hollow Road, near Woodward's home, that was supposed to be vacant.

Investigators reached the housekeeper for the chalet, who confirmed that it was supposed to be unoccupied.

Around 12:30 yesterday morning, troopers approached the building. They found the rear door open, and heard crashing in the nearby woods. Within minutes, they discovered Haynes in a nearby field.

They immediately arrested Haynes on a charge of trespassing and quickly charged him in connection to two recent burglaries in the area.

On June 10, Bridgewater resident June Waters found her and her husband's wallets missing, according to the affidavit. The next day, her neighbor, Robin Powell, told her that she had seen Haynes leaving the Waters house, carrying items. Powell had told Haynes to stop, but he ran off.

“Punky, stop,” Robin Powell yelled.

Both Waters and Powell told police that they had known Haynes for years. Waters told police she would have given him money if he had asked.

While scouring for witnesses to the Waters theft, Trooper Hudson came across Bridgewater resident Bruce Martin, who told him that he had confronted Haynes while breaking into his home earlier in the year. Martin was inside his Hale Hollow Road home when he found Haynes in his bedroom, stuffing quarters into his pocket. Martin physically removed Haynes from the house, but because Haynes had stolen so little money, he declined to report the incident to police.

At Woodward's trailer home yesterday, Vermont State Police Detective Sgt. Sam Capogrossi declined to comment.

In late June, roughly 40 Bridgewater and Woodstock residents attended a meeting with state police and expressed concern about recent burglaries.

Bridgewater resident Audie Bellimer, who attended the meeting, said that many in the audience identified Haynes as a likely perpetrator.

“It's so sad because he's lived in Bridgewater all his life,” Bellimer said.

Valley News Staff Writer John Woodrow Cox contributed to this report. Mark Davis can be reached at mcdavis@vnews.com or (603) 727-3304.