This is an archived article and the information in the article may be outdated. Please look at the time stamp on the story to see when it was last updated.

ARAPAHOE COUNTY, Colo. (KDVR) —  The man accused of killing four people in the Denver area in 1984 pleaded not guilty during his arraignment Monday afternoon. 

Alexander Christopher Ewing  is suspected of killing an Aurora couple and their 7-year-old child in 1984. Investigators say he beat Bruce, Debra and Melissa Bennett to death with a hammer.

A 3-year-old girl survived the attack but was left with serious injuries.

Six days earlier, Ewing allegedly broke into a Lakewood home and killed 50-year-old Patricia Smith by beating her with a different hammer.

According to the Associated Press, Ewing had been in prison in Nevada since 1984 for attacking a Las Vegas-area couple after escaping while being transported to Arizona on an attempted murder charge.

In August 2018, Ewing’s DNA was linked to the four metro Denver killings.

Ewing’s next court date is a motions hearing scheduled for Feb. 3.

Trial is set to being April 19.