ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) – Four months after the body of a beloved mail carrier was found burning on the mesa west of Rio Rancho, two suspects are now charged with murder.

Annie Rael and Alissa Bickett are accused of killing 65-year old Marilyn Gandert inside a northwest Albuquerque home that Gandert was renting to them.

Only Rael responded to questions from reporters Thursday afternoon as officers walked both her and Bickett to an Albuquerque Police Department SUV before taking the pair to jail.

When asked if she killed Gandert, Rael responded, by shaking her head “no.”

But Albuquerque Police believe the pair beat and stabbed Gandert to death in January before taking her body to the mesa west of Rio Rancho and setting it on fire. Both are now facing an open count of murder and evidence tampering charges.

APD says Gandert had been renting a home along Taylor Ridge Road near Coors and Montaño to Alissa Bickett, Annie Rael and Gandert’s grandson, who shares the “Bickett” last-name. Alissa Bickett is also the daughter-in-law of Gandert.

Court records show Gandert evicted Bickett and Rael from the home in January for not paying their rent. Days after one of the last court dates, Gandert went missing. More at KRQE