LAS VEGAS (AP) — A judge in Las Vegas has set a July 22 preliminary hearing for an Idaho woman and her brother from California in the hatchet slaying of the woman's husband.

Defense attorney Scott Coffee said Tuesday that Maria Olga Gutierrez of Burley, Idaho, plans to plead not guilty in the May 25 slaying of 43-year-old Enrique Gil Hernandez. Gutierrez and her brother, Hector Trinidad Gutierrez of Visalia, California, are each being held without bail on felony murder and conspiracy charges.

A prosecutor has said a decision will be made in coming weeks whether to seek the death penalty. Maria Gutierrez is also referred to in court documents as Maria Hernandez. Police say she might have held her husband's arms while Hector Gutierrez hacked at his head and neck with the hatchet.

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