Philip Brewer and Christina Hardy, the defendants who pleaded not guilty in the homicide of Mercer Island resident Curtis Engeland in March of 2024, had their omnibus pre-trial hearings continued from April 10 to June 12.

According to Casey McNerthney, director of communications of the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office, the pair’s defense attorneys asked the judge for continuance for additional time to “review discovery and investigate” and for “investigation and negotiation,” respectively, on April 10 at King County Superior Court.

Both defendants’ trials have been moved to July 24, according to court documents. McNerthney said that if further omnibus continuances occur, that would once again move the trial dates. This has happened several times in these cases and is common in all types of cases.

“Each request is unique and either party may object. Notably, however, prosecutors must be mindful that if a defendant wants to continue the case so that their attorney can be better prepared, the state runs the risk of a conviction getting overturned on appeal for ineffective assistance of counsel,” McNerthney said in a previous Reporter story.

Prosecuting attorney Leesa Manion charged the defendants of first-degree murder, first-degree kidnapping, first-degree identify theft and first-degree theft charges. Court documents state that Engeland, 74, was killed on or about Feb. 24, 2024, and his body was recovered on March 7 of that year in the Grays Harbor County city of Cosmopolis.