Orlando Guarino, 38, who told police, "I think I just snapped," could face the death penalty in the July 9 slayings of 22-year-old Ashley Guarino, 2-year-old Dreux and 11-month-old Orlando Jr. at their Marianna, Pa., home, the district attorney's office said.

Ashley Guarino, apparently beaten, died of strangulation, officials said, and the children were smothered.

Magisterial District Judge Valarie Costanzo ordered the trial Wednesday after more than two hours of testimony from police, a forensic pathologist and a witness, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported.

Police Trooper Thomas Kress testified Guarino told him he tried twice to kill himself after the killings, which apparently followed a family argument, the Post-Gazette said.

"He said, 'I think I just snapped ... I know it was me because I was the only one in the house,' " Kress testified. " 'I don't know what happened. I still love my wife and kids.'"