The woman accused of killing a Pinetown man in what law enforcement called a domestic incident last year made an appearance in Beaufort County Superior Court Monday.

Before Superior Court Judge Marvin K. Blount, Dee Reifinger requested to be assigned an attorney from the public defender’s office, due to financial and medical reasons. Previously, Superior Court Judge Wayland Sermons Jr. denied Reifinger’s request for a court appointed attorney.

Reifinger was indicted on an open murder charge last year for the shooting death of her boyfriend, Michael Moon. On Aug. 21, 2013, Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office deputies responded to a report of an unresponsive person at a home on Long Ridge Road in Pinetown where they found Moon dead of several gunshot wounds. Reifinger was arrested and charged with the crime. She was bonded out of prison on Sept. 9.

“I have tried to contact an attorney. I am disabled, Your Honor, physically and psychologically,” Reifinger said.

Reifinger told the court she had attempted to contact over 20 attorneys since she was bonded out by her children, but did not have representation. As her children had drained her savings account and put a $300,000 lien on her home in order to secure her release, Reifinger implied she was not financially able to procure independent counsel.

As Reifinger explained her living circumstances, Blount interrupted at one point, saying, “I need you to know that anything you say here is being taken down by the court reporter and can be used against you.”

According to Reifinger, she has not had access to any of her belongings since she was arrested — they remain at the home she shared with Moon in Pinetown.

Blount ordered Reifinger be appointed a public defender.

As for her property, Assistant District Attorney Tom Anglim asked that Blount modify the conditions of Reifinger’s release — a request that was granted. Reifinger was ordered to stay away from the Long Ridge Road home, as well as Moon’s heirs, and to not try to communicate with them in any way, be it by Facebook, email or any other method.

“There was a legitimate dispute whether she had ownership of some of that property,” Anglim said, adding that Reifinger’s appointed attorney can contact the D.A.’s office to address the issue of her belongings.