Murder charge expected in decapitation of Seattle-area mom

(Reuters) - A suspect in the decapitation of a Seattle-area mother of three girls was expected to be charged with murder as friends and family of the woman mourned her.

A judge on Tuesday found probable cause to hold John Charlton, 37, on $2 million bail while police investigated him on suspicion of second-degree murder, prosecutors said.

King County prosecutors have until a Thursday hearing to bring charges against Charlton in connection with the gruesome killing of Ingrid Lyne, 40, which has made national headlines.

"This is a very brutal crime," prosecutor Jennifer Worley told the judge at the Tuesday hearing as reported by television station Q13 Fox.

Lyne's head, arm and leg were found on Saturday in trash bags left inside a recycling bin, a day after she had gone on a date with Charlton to a Seattle Mariners baseball game, police said in court documents.

Police, who searched Lyne's home on Sunday, found swabs of blood and a 15-inch pruning saw in the bathroom, according to police.

In court on Tuesday, Worley told the judge that police also found flesh and blood in the bathtub drain, according to footage from Q13 Fox.

A public defender for Charlton could not be reached for comment.

In an interview with detectives, Charlton acknowledged he went to the baseball game with Lyne on Friday night and the two returned to her home, according to the documents.

He said he was too drunk to remember much of what happened next and that Lyne eventually drove him to Seattle, according to the documents.

Detectives noted cuts on Charlton's forehead, according to the document, though he denied having any injuries.

On Tuesday night, dozens of family and friends of Lyne, who worked as a nurse, gathered at a church to honor her memory and later walked in the rain to her house while holding umbrellas and candles, according to Channel Q13.

Family friend Jim Morrell, in addressing the mourners, expressed concern for Lyne's daughters, ages 12, 10 and 7.

"Those three beautiful Lyne girls, they have to live with it, and it's going to be really hard in the coming months, coming days, coming weeks, coming years," Morrell said, according to Q13.

(Reporting by Alex Dobuzinskis in Los Angeles; Editing by Sara Catania and Jeffrey Benkoe)