NJ man faces charges in Pa. deaths

Associated Press

BUTLER, Pa.

A New Jersey man has been ordered to stand trial in the deaths of his father and stepmother, whose charred remains were found at their estate in western Pennsylvania.

A judge in Butler County ruled Thursday after a preliminary hearing that Colin Abbott will be tried on homicide and abuse-of-corpse charges. He has pleaded not guilty.

State police say the 41-year-old from Randolph, N.J., killed Kenneth and Celeste Abbott sometime in early June.

Colin Abbott reportedly told relatives that the couple died in a fiery car crash in New Jersey. But New Jersey authorities could not confirm the accident and alerted police in Pennsylvania.