Chesapeake, Va. - Ryan Martinez and Airika Liljegren stood with their attorneys as a Chesapeake judge found enough evidence to move their case forward.
Both are charged with first-degree murder and concealment of a body for the deaths of Martinez's mom, Cindy Jensen-Ellet and her husband, Anthony Barone.
A Chesapeake police officer testified that Liljegren admitted to stabbing Martinez's mother in the neck with a filet knife then leaving the body on the floor of the kitchen for several days.
But her attorney argued it could be a case of self-defense because Liljegren told police Jensen-Ellet threatened to kill her first.
A friend of the victims told the judge that Jensen-Ellet had a protective order against Liljegren.
Police say Martinez was sneaking Liljegren in and out of the house.
When Jensen-Ellet found out, Liljegren told them, Jensen-Ellet threatened to get her gun and shoot her.
Police say Jensen-Ellet's body was left on the floor of the kitchen for several days because Martinez and Liljegren wrapped it in a tarp and put it in the garage.
They say the body of her husband, Anthony Barone, was found in an upstairs closet underneath a pile of clothes.
Officers say Barone had been shot twice with a 9mm gun.
DNA evidence on a magazine points to Martinez as a major contributor.
Police say Barone's body had also been there for several days while Martinez and Liljegren continued to stay in the house.
One officer who found Barone's body said he never saw anything like it before.
A trial date will be set after a status hearing is held in the coming weeks.
Related:
UPDATE: Police identify two people found dead in Chesapeake home
