Defense attorney Amy Gierhart, left, of Caro consults with her client, accused double murderer Mark Soule, in district court after Soule was determined mentally competent to stand trial. (Photo by Eric Levine)

Soule, 49, of Austin Township is charged with two counts of open murder in the March 9 stabbing deaths of his girlfriend, Janice Boal, 50, who lived with him, and her daughter, Stacy Ann Kredell, 30, of Bad Axe.

The case has been on hold for three months, pending the results of the competency evaluation by the state forensic center in Ypsilanti.

The report was completed June 19, and a hearing was held Friday afternoon in 73rd District Court in Sandusky.

District Judge James Marcus said the forensic psychologist who evaluated Soule concluded he "understood the proceedings against him and could assist with his legal defense." The defendant "was competent to stand trial," said Marcus.

A preliminary examination was scheduled for July 17 at 1 p.m. At the exam the judge will determine if there is probable cause to believe a crime has been committed and that the defendant committed the crime and should be bound over for trial in circuit court.

Authorities discovered the bodies of the women in a machine shed at 1330 Charleston Road in Austin Township the morning of March 10, after Soule allegedly called Central Dispatch to report he had murdered two people.

Autopsy results indicated the women died the previous night after being stabbed in the mid-torso area with a sharp cutting instrument.

Sheriff's officers believe Soule killed the women in his trailer house and took the bodies to the nearby pole building. The trio had been drinking most of the day, and alcohol was apparently a factor in the killings, according to Sheriff Virgil Strickler.

The maximum penalty for open murder is life in prison.