Man Faces Trial in York Beach Killing

A man who pleaded insanity for killing his son’s mother at York Beach is heading to trial.

Jury selection is set to start Wednesday in the case of Jeffrey Buchannan, who is accused of killing his 35-year-old girlfriend Rhonda Pattelena at Short Sands Beach on March 26, 2021.

The trial is scheduled to begin on March 18. Buchannan, 33 at the time of the murder, entered a plea in March 2022 of not criminally responsible by reason of insanity.

One of the main reasons Buchannan was arraigned a year later was due to a backlog in criminal cases as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, and a court order that he undergo a mental health evaluation.