Saying “one thing led to another and I ended up choking him,” a 19-year-old Marine has confessed to strangling a gay man in his Little Italy apartment last year after he had sexual relations and felt “violated,” according to a San Diego Police Department detective who testified about the admission.

James Alexander Hardy, who is now 20, was ordered Jan. 10 to stand trial for the Feb. 7, 2006, murder of Raymund Catolico, 39, whose nude body was found stuffed underneath his bathroom sink. San Diego Superior Court Judge Frank Brown also ordered Hardy to stand trial for committing a hate crime based on the sexual orientation of the victim.

If convicted of both first-degree murder and the hate crime, Hardy faces a maximum sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole, said Deputy District Attorney Dan Link. Hardy remains in county jail on $1 million bail and will have a trial date set on Jan. 25.

Brown heard the testimony of two homicide detectives and a pathologist in the preliminary hearing. Hardy’s statements were tape-recorded by police but were not played in court. A detective testified about what Hardy told him.

One of Hardy’s attorneys, Megan Marcotte, said Hardy claimed “he was acting in self defense,” adding “he did not want to do this.” She asked the judge not to order him to stand trial for first-degree murder, saying “at most this would be manslaughter.”

“This is not the time or place to determine that,” said Brown, adding that it would be up to a jury to decide the verdict.

Another attorney, Troy Britt, argued that Hardy should not be ordered to stand trial for a hate crime, saying “there is no establishing the sexual orientation had anything to do with the killing.” He said Hardy made no derogatory remarks about gays.

“It’s reasonable to assume the defendant knew the victim was gay,” said Link, noting Hardy’s admission that he killed Catolico “after the act was finished.”

Brown said there was enough evidence to hold Hardy for trial.

Catolico was a credit analyst, and a missing person’s report was filed by friends and co-workers after he missed a lunch date and work. The body was not found when someone first searched his apartment.

Detective J.C. Smith told the judge a co-worker called Catolico at home and someone answered his phone, saying his name was James and he was a friend of the victim. Smith said the co-worker was “not satisfied with his story of being a friend to Raymund Catolico.”

Smith testified a friend and the landlord looked inside the Kettner Boulevard apartment on Feb. 9 and were “startled” to discover the body underneath the sink. He said there was a plastic bag taped over Catolico’s head and the body was in “a fetal-type position.”

Smith said a baggage claim ticket from Greyhound bus lines in Hardy’s name was found inside a backpack that Hardy had left behind in the living room. Police also found a Southwest Airlines baggage tag with Hardy’s name.

Hardy was taken into custody Feb. 11 by military police at the Marine Corps Recruit Depot at the request of San Diego police. Hardy finished boot camp but was absent without leave at the time of his arrest.

Detective Brett Burkett testified Hardy told him he first met Catolico about 10 days before his death at the downtown Greyhound station. He said Catolico invited him to his home and they “hung out and drank.”

Burkett testified Hardy said he slept that night on a couch in the living room and turned down Catolico’s offer to sleep in his bed. He said no sexual activity occurred that night. Hardy left the next day to visit his brother in New Mexico and kept Catolico’s business card.

When Hardy returned to San Diego, he called Catolico, who picked him up, Burkett said. Hardy said the victim offered to give him a massage in his bed, and he then took off his shirt and got a back rub before falling asleep.

Hardy claimed he awoke to find Catolico “straddling” him and said the victim had arranged his body to be penetrated by Hardy. “It’s OK; we’re just experimenting,” he said Catolico told him. Hardy said Catolico performed oral sex on him and he ejaculated.

Hardy said he reacted violently and “put his arm around his neck and choked him out,” according to Burkett, who added that Hardy said “one thing led to another and I ended up choking him.”

Hardy also said, “I hit him in the face a few times.”

Burkett said there was “a significant size and weight difference” between the pair. He said Catolico weighed 150 pounds, but the Marine is taller and weighed 200 pounds.

On cross examination, Burkett said Hardy claimed he was drunk and defending himself from sexual assault. He said Hardy used the term “violated,” and had added he had not meant to kill Catolico. Hardy said he told the victim “no” several times.

“I literally flipped out” immediately after the victim died, Hardy told him.

Hardy said he checked Catolico’s pulse and then walked frantically around the apartment. Burkett testified that Hardy stayed in the apartment for a day or two after the victim died. Hardy told him he took 148 Tylenol caplets in a suicide attempt, he said.

Dr. Bethann Schaber, who works for the medical examiner’s office, testified the cause of death was strangulation. She said there was no alcohol or any types of drugs found in the victim’s system.