When Crystal Childres learned that Seth Mazzaglia had been charged with the murder of University of New Hampshire student and Westborough resident Elizabeth "Lizzi" Marriott, she said she wasn't surprised.

"It gave me chills. It is just so very close to home," said Childres of Dover, who said she was a front line cashier manager at the Hannaford Supermarket on Grapevine Road for three years. She said Mazzaglia was a regular customer who came into the store a few times a day.

Mazzaglia was ordered held without bail at the Strafford County Jail by Dover District Court Judge Stephen Morrison. He is facing a second-degree murder charge and could spend the rest of his life in state prison if convicted. Judge Morrison said Monday that Mazzaglia allegedly strangled and suffocated Marriott on Oct. 9. Meanwhile, investigators continue to search for Marriott's body.

Childres, who said she left Hannaford in 2011, said Mazzaglia, 29, of Dover would often come into the supermarket and flirt with the young cashiers. He would ask them questions like if he could have their telephone number and whether they had a boyfriend.

She said her sister was a former classmate of Mazzaglia's at Great Bay Community College before he attended UNH. She said her sister, who now lives in New York State, always had an uneasy feeling about Mazzaglia.

Childres said a friend of hers also lives in the Sawyer Mill apartment complex where Mazzaglia lived and her friend told her that Mazzaglia would often approach her in an inappropriate way to the point where it felt like harassment.

Childres recalled she often stood up to Mazzaglia when he went too far with her former cashiers and told him to stop or she would call in the store manager. When asked why she never called the police, Childres said Hannaford's upper management would not allow her to do that.

Childres said a former co-worker at Hannaford told her that Mazzaglia was at the supermarket last week, but she did not say if it was before or after the day he allegedly killed Marriott.

All the while, Childres said Mazzaglia made her feel very fearful for the safety of her former co-workers.

"You look in his eyes and you can tell something's wrong," she said.

Childres said she came to Dover District Court on Monday because she had a separate court appointment.