Anna Tolomello was acting in self-defense when she fatally shot her partner, Giovanni Gallina, in their Hilltown home in March, her attorneys argued Friday.

Tolomello, who owned Pina's Pizza with Gallina in Chalfont, told police that she shot him in self-defense, and directed them to his body in their Hilltown home almost two weeks after the shooting, according to testimony. Her attorneys, Antonetta Stancu and Daniel Schatz, also noted there were bruises on Gallina's arms.

"I think the evidence made it clear this was simply not a first-degree murder case and frankly I think the evidence on the record here today indicated that it was self-defense," Shatz said to reporters following Tolomello's preliminary hearing.

But Chief Deputy District Attorney Christopher Rees disagreed, saying that an autopsy showed that the 65-year-old Gallina was shot in the back of the head.

"She shot him in the back of his head because it was her specific intent to end his life," he said during the hearing.

On Friday, District Judge Maggie Snow held all of Tolomello's charges for county court, which include homicide and misdemeanors of possessing an instrument of crime, abuse of a corpse and tampering with evidence.

Hilltown police and county detectives allege Tolomello killed Gallina in their home in the 1400 block of North Limekiln Pike the night of March 16. Police said she then hired someone to dig a hole with plans to dump Gallina's body there. Investigators found his body wrapped in a "tarp bundle" in their home nearly two weeks after the shooting, authorities said.

During Tolomello's preliminary hearing, Bucks County Detective Eric Landamia was the only witness to testify. Tolomello sat next to her attorneys wearing a red prison jumpsuit and she did not appear to show much emotion as Landamia testified.

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Police began the investigation after Gallina's son contacted authorities on March 29, saying that he had not heard from his father, which was unusual, since March 16. Additionally, Landamia testified that investigators had been contacted by someone who claimed that Tolomello had asked him to dig a hole on their property near their driveway.

The hole, according to police, was 7 feet long, 3 feet deep and 3 feet wide, and Tolomello would not provide any reason for needing the hole.

A search of phone records showed there was no outbound calls or texts from Gallina's phone after March 16, according to testimony.

Landamia also testified that investigators received footage from the couple's Ring security camera located above the garage in their home. Police requested the footage from the camera, which is stored by Amazon, the company that owns Ring.

In the footage provided to investigators, there was a six-day gap starting after the night of March 16, when Gallina was killed. When the footage resumed, the position of the camera had been altered, he said.

One video from the camera had captured Tolomello entering the home about 9 the night of the killing. Another video showed Gallina entering the home shortly after.

The video of Gallina entering the home was not present in Ring's stored data that was given to police, however it was recovered from Gallina's phone, which had an application on it for the camera, the detective testified.

Another video, dated about March 27, was shown during the hearing. It depicted Tolomello leaving her home with what appeared to be a piece of a mattress. Landamia said a piece of the mattress in Tolomello's bedroom had been removed before police searched the home.

Hilltown police have said that Tolomello admitted to shooting Gallina in the head while he was choking her in their bed.

After obtaining the necessary warrants, investigators went to Tolomello's house on March 29, according to Landamia, who said she admitted to killing Gallina in self-defense at the time and that she should have contacted police earlier. Landamia said she told investigators Gallina's body was in the home, would have a gunshot wound and would be found in a "tarp bundle."

Tolomello was charged the next day.

Gallina's death was a shock to the community in late March. He and Tolomello owned Pina's Pizza, a longtime community pizza shop off of Butler Pike in Chalfont, right outside the border between with New Britain Borough.

On Friday afternoon, the shop, now with "no trespassing signs' on its windows, was closed.

Tolomello is in Bucks County Prison without bail. She will be formally arraigned on the charges in county court next month.