Arthur Anaya appeared for his arraignment in a red-orange jumpsuit that looked two sizes too big.

The man whose mug shot had been circulated for nearly a week in connection with the shooting deaths of Austin Urban, 16, and Theresa Vigil, 51, for $100 worth of rent was just a ghostly image on a TV screen in Magistrate Court.

Members of the Vigil family watched Monday afternoon as Anaya, 54, was charged with two counts of murder. He did not enter a plea. The judge maintained his $1 million cash bond.

"It doesn't bring me any kind of satisfaction," said Ralph Romero, Theresa Vigil's brother, after the arraignment. "The only kind of satisfaction I got was just to see him. But I need more than this. I need a lot more than this."

The only words Anaya muttered were a couple of "yes, ma'ams" as Judge Sandra Miera asked if he understood the charges against him.

Standing next to Miera was Anaya's defense attorney, Tom Clark, who said, "Given what we know about Mr. Anaya's mental-health history, I'm pretty certain mental-health issues will play a significant role in this case."

Anaya called Clark from his personal cellphone during negotiations Friday with a Santa Fe County Sheriff's Office SWAT team. Anaya was found in an abandoned mobile home off Old Agua Fría Road south of Interstate 25.

Clark advised Anaya to exit the mobile home peacefully and not to comment on anything. Since Friday, Clark and co-counsel Michael Jones have not been able to communicate with their client and have not been able to evaluate his mental state.

"He's exercised his right to remain silent, and he hasn't made any statements up to this point in time," Clark said. "We just need to make sure nobody talks with him, and he doesn't talk with anybody else, until Mr. Jones and I have the opportunity to speak with him in more detail and the case proceeds before a district judge."

In the early 1990s, Anaya was ruled mentally incompetent to stand trial on charges stemming from a crime spree that included several violent domestic crimes. He spent the majority of the next decade in a state medical facility in Las Vegas, N.M., before being deemed competent enough to stand trial.

In 2004, a jury convicted him of several felonies, and he was sentenced to 18 years in prison. With credit for time already served and "good time" consideration -- an early-release incentive for inmates who demonstrate good behavior -- he was released from Department of Corrections custody in late 2009.

According to criminal defense lawyer Jeff Buckels of Albuquerque, "mentally competent" means a person is deemed capable of understanding the charges against him and assisting his attorney in his defense.

Buckels said mental competency is evaluated by a social worker or a psychiatrist, and the findings are then presented to a judge, who makes the final ruling.

"Someone could be perfectly intelligent and yet have some serious problem with communication, and if so, it could certainly bear on the ability to assist one's attorney, which could be cause for deeming someone incompetent," Buckels said.

Reasons to find a defendant incompetent can include anything from dementia to schizophrenia to immaturity. Evidence of these disorders or conditions is required, but if a defendant previously has been found incompetent to stand trial, then, presumably, he or she may continue to be mentally incompetent.

"It's still the burden of the defense to provide evidence for present incompetency," Buckels said.

For the Vigil family, these factors should not lessen Anaya's penalty.

Priscilla Lovato, Theresa Vigil's niece, watched Anaya's arraignment as she held her 2-year-old nephew, Jesse Martinez. Lovato said she grew up with Natalie Vigil, Theresa Vigil's daughter, who witnessed both murders last week. Lovato said she and Natalie are "like sisters." Lovato also worked with Natalie and her deceased boyfriend, Austin Urban, at Smith's, 2308 Cerrillos Road.

"Natalie lost the two most important people in her life," Lovato said. "I want to know that [Anaya] is suffering like my family is suffering."

Austin Urban's mother, Angela Urban, declined requests for comment from The New Mexican, but Lovato said she had spent some time with her since last Monday.

"She just lost her only child. She can barely talk," Lovato said.

Anaya will face a preliminary hearing Feb. 8. Clark and Jones are meeting with Anaya this week to decide how to proceed with the case and to determine what sort of mental evaluation he needs.

Contact Nico Roesler at 986-3089 or nroesler@sfnewmexican.com.