Last month, the omnibus pre-trial hearings for Philip J. Brewer and Christina Joel Hardy were continued from Dec. 4 to March 5 of this year. The defendants pleaded not guilty in the homicide of Mercer Island resident Curtis Engeland last March.

Court documents state that Engeland, 74, was killed on or about Feb. 24 of last year and his body was recovered on March 7 in the Grays Harbor County city of Cosmopolis.

The defendants’ trials, which were scheduled to begin on Jan. 13, have been continued to April 2, according to court documents.

In Brewer’s case, the court granted the defense counsel’s motion for continuance because it needed ongoing trial preparation, defense investigation and conducting of interviews, according to documents.

Hardy’s document notes that her defense counsel wanted the hearing and trial continued because of “voluminous discovery with new discovery still being received.”

Brewer and Hardy, who remain held on $5 million bail each, both pleaded not guilty of first-degree murder, first-degree kidnapping, first-degree identify theft and first-degree theft charges.