GROTON, Conn. -- A man accused of stuffing a woman's body in a chest freezer at a Groton home faced a judge on Tuesday.

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

Sources told Eyewitness News 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 the medical examiner positively confirmed 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 it 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 withheld 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.

Friends of Madeline Brisson have begun to come forawrd saying that she told them where to look for her body if she ever went missing.

Brisson's ex-husband Michael said, "I'm just trying to figure it all out; What took place, how she died and just trying to put an end to it.

Friend John Robinson said, "She came to my house one day and said Lou and her had gotten into a fight, and he threatened to kill her and put her in the freezer. She also told her sisters and other people, 'If I ever come up missing, look in the freezer,' so the guy finally made good on his promise."