Friends of Jesse Maxwell were stunned by the brutal beating death of the charitable 73-year-old Spare Change newspaper vendor, found in the bathtub of his Cambridge apartment, a killing prosecutors say was committed by Maxwell’s ex-con nephew.

“Jesse was a really good, soft-spoken individual,” said Spare Change founder James Shearer, who’s known Maxwell since 1992. “All of his customers really liked him. One thing he used to do around this time of the year, he would go and get Dunkin’ Donuts gift cards and actually hand them out to his customers while he was selling papers. I can’t even dream of why somebody would want to do something like this to him. It’s beyond me.”

Maxwell’s nephew, Harold Antoine Maxwell, 33, of Cambridge, was charged with the murder. He has served time for armed robbery and battery and has 18 adult criminal convictions. He hung his head during his arraignment yesterday as a prosecutor described the gruesome scene at his uncle’s Broadway apartment.

Assistant District Attorney Nicole Allain said police found a frying pan with a broken handle that had been used as a weapon, as well as damaged bathroom wall tiles. She said Jesse Maxwell suffered at least 50 trauma wounds to the head.

“Numerous blood stains were observed throughout the apartment,” reads a probable cause statement filed in court. “It appeared as if there was some effort to clean up in the kitchen and the kitchen sink.”

Officers found Harold Maxwell’s wallet in the apartment, and surveillance footage placed him in the building the night of the murder, Allain said.

Prosecutors did not state a motive. One resident told investigators Harold Maxwell — known as “Ant” — had been banned from his uncle’s apartment “due to a prior altercation with Ant’s or the victim’s girlfriend,” according to the probable cause statement.