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Provo • A 22-year-old Provo man was ordered Wednesday to stand trial for allegedly raping his 41-year-old aunt, strangling her with an electrical cord and dumping her body in a canyon earlier this year.

During a two-day preliminary hearing, prosecutors presented DNA evidence indicating that Damien Candland's DNA was found under the fingernails of the victim, Amy Jo Candland.

DNA testing also indicates that Amy Candland's blood was on a T-shirt that Damien Candland was wearing just hours after she was killed.

And DNA from both Amy Candland and her nephew were on a condom found in a kitchen trash can at the Provo home where the two lived. Prosecutors said that injuries to the woman's genitals indicate the sex wasn't consensual.

Damien Candland is charged in 4th District Court with first-degree felony aggravated murder, which carries the potential for the death penalty. He is also charged with first-degree felony rape and second-degree felony obstructing justice. The defendant will enter pleas during a Sept. 30 hearing.

Amy Candland was last seen alive about noon on Feb. 21, at which time Damien Candland was dropped off at the Provo home. Within 45 minutes, Amy Candland stopped making or answering phone calls and text messages.

About 4:20 p.m., the woman's body was discovered near a trash bin in Hobble Creek Canyon east of Springville.

Police found shoe prints in the snow that were later allegedly matched to shoes belonging to Damien Candland.

Cell phone records indicate that during the afternoon of Feb. 21, Damien Candland traveled south to the vicinity of Springville and then returned to the Provo area.

Three days later, police searched a crawl space under the Provo home and found the victim's wallet, cell phone and the keys to her pickup.

"When there's smoke, there's a strong likelihood of fire," said Prosecutor Julia Thomas to Judge James Taylor. "And here, there's a whole lot of smoke, and all inferences point to Damien Candland."

Defense attorney Thomas Means said that despite evidence suggesting his client was around the victim and near where her body was found, it was "speculation" to argue he had killed her.