PROVIDENCE, R.I. — The tall young man accused of stabbing and killing a Barrington chiropractor didn’t try to hide a smile as he was led in shackles into a courtroom at District Court Tuesday morning.

Owen Morris, 21, of 18 Cole St. in Warren, was a lacrosse player and had made the dean’s list at the University of Rhode Island, according to online records. Now, East Providence Police are also calling him a murderer.

State prosecutor Scott Erickson didn’t reveal why during the brief arraignment before Judge Anthony Capraro. Morris was ordered held without bail, with a bail hearing on Jan. 30. His lawyer, Jason Knight of Providence, a state representative, declined comment on the allegations and said the family was requesting privacy.

Morris had enrolled at URI in fall of 2013, studying for a bachelors degree in economics, said university spokesman Dave Lavallee. Morris made the dean’s list in fall 2015 and spring 2016, according to records. In 2016, he was listed as one of the attackmen on the lacrosse team, a club sport at the university

However, Morris took leave from school last February and formally withdrew last September, Lavallee said.

Morris owns his own lacrosse stick company called Lacrosse Shoot LLC, registered to Child Street in Warren. According to his Linked in profile, Morris attended New England Institute of Technology. He also attended the former Prudence Island School, which closed a few years ago.  

Police were called to Bridgham's home on 160 Pleasant St. to check his well being on Jan. 11. The chiropractor had been stabbed to death, and the chief later said they believed he had been targeted, though didn’t elaborate.

Detective Kevin M. Feeney obtained a search warrant the next day for Health records of complaints against Bridgham.

Bridgham voluntarily suspended his license on Sept. 9, according to Joseph Wendelken, a spokesman for the Department of Health. This came after Bridgham “began a therapeutic relationship” in spring 2016 with a 19-year-old man. The man complained that the doctor had violated the boundaries of a patient-physician relationship during sessions, according to paperwork filed when the doctor surrendered his license.

In 2003, the state had ordered Bridgham to undergo evaluation from the Professional Renewal Center in Kansas after he had sex with one of his patients.

According to a consent order from 2003, Bridgham was treating siblings at his practice. One of the siblings died, causing the other to become depressed.

“The respondent became close to the remaining sibling and continued to provide chiropractic care,” according to the document. “The Respondent invited this patient to the Newport Creamery and later to his home where they engaged in sexual contact.”

 -- With reports from Journal staff writers Linda Borg and Jennifer Bogdan

-- This report was updated at 9:31 a.m., 10:15 a.m., 10:51 a.m. and 11:35 a.m.