The men were arrested over the weekend at their Prince George's County home. Antoine Levelle Gatewood, 33, of Largo is charged with first-degree murder. His roommate, Dion Dishion Desir, 24, is charged with being an accessory after the fact to murder. Police said Desir helped Gatewood dispose of the woman's body.

Police said the men sometimes acted as bodyguards for Emily Cagal, 24, who worked as an exotic dancer.

Gatewood was denied bond on Monday and remains in the Montgomery County Detention Center. Desir was granted $750,000 bond on Tuesday; it was not known at The Gazette's press time whether he had posted bond.

Cagal of the 10200 block of Grosvenor Place was reported missing March 5 when she did not show up for a planned vacation in Florida. As of press time, police had not recovered her body, but they said evidence in Cagal's apartment leads them to believe that she was killed.

When Cagal did not show up in Florida, a friend let herself in to the apartment and found property, including computers, video and stereo equipment, missing. Cagal's dog had also been left inside.

Police searching the apartment found a still-wet blood stain on the bedroom carpet and blood in the bedroom and bathroom.

Piecing together information from Cagal's friends and surveillance tapes from her building, investigators said they believe Gatewood killed Cagal on March 2.

According to District Court charging documents, surveillance cameras show Gatewood and Cagal together near the laundry room of her building at 3 p.m. March 2. That was the last time Cagal was known to be alive. Although Cagal does not appear on any other surveillance video, the documents note that Gatewood is seen entering and leaving the building several times.

He returned just after midnight March 3 with another man, identified in the charging documents as Desir, and a gallon of bleach. Over the next few hours, Gatewood and Desir made several trips to the parking garage carrying property belonging to Cagal.

At about 3 a.m., Desir and Gatewood are seen carrying a large, wicker footlocker that appears to contain a body, the documents say. Shortly after they left with the footlocker, an SUV that appears to be Cagal's was seen leaving the garage. The 2005 Acura MDX was found abandoned on the 5600 block of Blaine St. in Northeast Washington on March 8.

After Gatewood's bond hearing on Monday, State's Attorney Douglas F. Gansler said there are still questions that need to be answered.

"We're not at liberty to speculate as to the motive in this particular case at this time," he said.

But Steven Kupferberg, Gatewood's attorney, said the evidence against his client is inconclusive.

"It seems from the charging documents the evidence seems to be very thin," he said.

On Tuesday, Desir's attorneys, Barry Johnson and Tony Shaw, argued that police have little evidence that their client is the man pictured in the surveillance video with Gatewood.

"The only thing our client is guilty of is guilt by association," Shaw said.

Johnson and Shaw also disputed the charging documents in which police say they overheard Desir talking to an uncle and admitting to knowing that Cagal was dead.

"The uncle said no such conversation took place," Shaw said. "What my client did say was, 'I didn't kill anybody. I don't know what they're talking about.'"

District Court Judge Barry A. Hamilton noted that Desir has no adult or juvenile convictions and lowered his bail from $1 million to $750,000.

Gatewood could be sentenced to death if convicted, and Desir could face a sentence of five years in prison.

Police ask that anyone with information call 240-773-5070.