The 36-year-old Jersey City man charged with killing his mother and grandmother last week has also been accused of robbing a woman while armed with a butter knife last month.

Kevin Hodges is being held on a $4 million cash-only bail on the charges he murdered his mother, Rebecca Hodges, 56, and grandmother, Dorothy Bradshaw, 76, in the Arlington Gardens public housing complex on the night of Dec. 5.

An additional $100,000 cash or bond bail was added when Hodges appeared in court on the robbery charge yesterday. Hodges seemed shocked to hear of the new offense at the hearing. The robbery charge was filed Dec. 7.

According to the criminal complaint, Hodges held a butter knife to the woman's back during the Nov. 4 robbery. Probable cause for the charge is listed as the victim's statement and her identification of Hodges from a picture.

On the night of the grisly murders, police responding to a call of a woman screaming found Hodges' mother and grandmother covered in blood. Hodges was found nearby and was also covered in blood, officials said.

In the apartment, police found a bloody and bent meat cleaver, and bloody sword and plastic-handled kitchen knife. No motive for the killings has been revealed.

Meanwhile, the mother of Kevin Hodges' 15-year-old daughter yesterday speculated that he was under the influence of drugs or alcohol at the time of Dec. 5 attack that left the two women dead.

"I can definitely believe that he was under the influence as far as that type of behavior," the woman, who asked to not be identified, said. "He loved his mother and grandmother dearly and they were inseparable. He was a sweetheart. He had a great heart because he got it from his mom."

Asked what Hodges' drug or substance of choice was, the girl's mother said: "I don't want to reveal that. I just know that it is not the Kevin Hodges I knew and I tell my daughter over and over, 'That is not your father. Your father is not a bad person,' and she is old enough to know that."

The Hudson County Prosecutor's Office offered no comment last week when asked whether toxicology tests on Hodges' blood were being performed as part of the murder investigation. Hodges has a prior drug conviction and two violations of probation.

"It's tragic," the woman added. "My daughter's grandmother loved her so much and they had such a great relationship. The whole family is still in shock and dying to wake up from this nightmare." She said her daughter's birthday is coming up and that each year she, her daughter, Hodges and his mother would spend time together on that day.

The girl's mother said she met Hodges while attending Ferris High School and at one point he had a white collar job, but for the past nine years he worked as a laborer. She said she has not yet been informed of funeral arrangements.

"Kevin isn't a bad guy, not at all," she said. "I just thought it was a spirit took over his whole body to make him do such a thing. I just pray he will be OK when he realizes what actually happened and all the lives that have been affected."