SAN DIEGO -- A house painter who allegedly used a baseball bat to kill his stepfather, mother, brother and their dog, as well as his own pet, was ordered Tuesday to stand trial on charges that could lead to the death penalty.

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DEADLY RAMPAGE IMAGES: Deadly Rampage

Michael Monroe Brown, 48, will be back in court Sept. 15 for arraignment on three counts of murder and a special circumstance allegation of multiple murders, along with two counts of animal cruelty.

District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis should decide by then if her office will seek the death penalty against Brown if he is convicted, prosecutor Rick Clabby said.

Superior Court Judge Leo Valentine Jr. ruled after a half-day preliminary hearing that there was enough evidence to hold the defendant to answer to the charges.

Clabby said at Brown's initial arraignment on March 23 that the defendant called 911 about 7 a.m. on March 20, saying he had an "episode" and in fact committed the acts."

Prior to the killings, Brown wrote a note to his wife, who was being treated at a hospital for an undisclosed illness, saying "I apologize for what I'm about to do," according to the prosecutor.

According to court documents, a one-time friend went with Brown's mother in 1985 to see a psychologist for help in dealing with her son's delusions and violent mood swings.

Brown allegedly clubbed his Doberman pinscher over the head several times at his Grantville residence before driving to his mother's home in Mira Mesa.

The defendant allegedly met his stepfather, 70-year-old Joseph Beck, at the door and hit him several times in the head with the aluminum baseball bat.

When 69-year-old Shizuko Taeko Beck came into the living room to see what was going on, her son clubbed her numerous times in the head, Clabby alleged.

The defendant then went into a bedroom and woke his 44-year-old brother, Kenneth, who asked "Why?" before he was fatally beaten over the head with the bat, the prosecutor alleged.

Brown then allegedly killed the family dog before returning to the living room where his mother was still alive. The woman was again hit in the head and died an hour or two later at a hospital, the prosecutor said.