GROTON, Conn. -- A man accused of stuffing a woman's body in a chest freezer faced a judge on Tuesday, WFSB-TV in Hartford, Conn., reported.

Luis Otero was being held on a $2 million bond after the body was discovered in a home on Sunday night. Otero was charged with murder in connection with the woman's death on Monday.

Sources told the station that Otero originally confessed to the woman's death but later reneged.

"Police responded to that address and found a deceased female in a chest freezer at that address," said Lt. Steven Sinagra of the Groton Police Department.

Police said they were waiting for the medical examiner to positively confirm the body is that of Otero's girlfriend, Madeleine Brisson, who lives with Otero in the home.

The landlord of the property runs an auto garage business behind the home and said he knocked on the home's door on Friday to get rent and no one answered.

The landlord, Dominic Ceravolo, said he thought it was strange that no one answered and that he went back on Saturday to try again.

Ceravolo said a man he believed to be a new boyfriend of Brisson answered the door.

"He came to the door and I said, 'Where's Madeleine?' He said, 'She should be back in a couple of days,'" Ceravolo said.

Neighbors said Brisson had lived at the Groton home for about a year and ran a laundromat that recently closed in Mystic. They said she often kept to herself.

"She was a very nice person, kind and congenial," said Deborah Bates, who works for Ceravolo. "Never had a bad word to say about anybody."

Police said they were withholding the victim's identity until her family had been notified. An autopsy is scheduled for Wednesday.

Otero did not enter a plea during Tuesday's court appearance. Otero's public defender asked unsuccessfully for a lower bond, saying Otero has ties in the community. He returns to New London Superior Court on March 24.