The man accused of bludgeoning his girlfriend's two teenagers to death and seriously wounding her will stand trial on homicide and other charges, a district judge ruled this afternoon.

A bearded Keith Scott, 42, appeared at a preliminary hearing today on charges that, on Oct. 14, he killed 18-year-old Ieisha Drake and 14-year-old Naim Drake in their Penn Hills townhome and stabbed their mother, Nikiesha Warren, who survived.

District Judge Anthony W. Saveikis held the charges against Mr. Scott for court after hearing testimony from one prosecution witness, Det. Patrick Miller of the Allegheny County police department homicide squad.

Det. Miller said he interviewed Mr. Scott in his hospital bed -- where he was recovering from a self-inflicted stab wound to the neck -- the day after the killings. Det. Miller said Mr. Scott told him that he became enraged after he found out Ms. Warren had been cheating on him -- the evidence, he said, was from a phone call she received from another man and in her text messages.

Mr. Scott told Det. Miller that he couldn't recall any details after that. When asked if he killed the two teens, Mr. Scott replied that he must have because he was the only one in the house. He recalled keeping Ms. Warren prisoner in the basement, and he recalled having to wait all day for Naim to get home from school.

Mr. Scott told Det. Miller that he removed a pair of blood-soaked 20-pound dumbbells from the house, which apparently were used in the killings.

Police later found letters of apology inside the house.

"He told Nikiesha he had taken something irreplaceable from her," Det. Miller testified, prompting loud sobs from victims' family members in the courtroom.

Defense attorney James M. Ecker accused Det. Miller of putting words in Mr. Scott's mouth while he was on morphine in the hospital. After the hearing, Mr. Ecker emphasized that his client never actually said he did it, just that he "must have."

Mr. Scott had been housed for a time at Torrance State Hospital to receive a mental health evaluation. While there, Assistant District Attorney Lisa Pellegrini said, Mr. Scott tried to call Ms. Warren. Judge Saveikis ordered Mr. Scott not to attempt to contact Ms. Warren or any other family members, and Mr. Scott said he understood.