Courtesy Photo Brad Srebnik is seen in this undated photo provided by the Michigan State Police.

ALPENA ― Police consider Alpena resident Brad Srebnik a primary suspect in the deaths of Alpena women Brynn Bills and Abby Hill, Alpena County Prosecutor Cynthia Muszynski said Monday.

“The defendant is well aware that he is at the center of not only one, but two homicide investigations,” Muszynski said in a court filing on Friday, arguing against Srebnik’s request to lower his $500,000 bond in a separate hijacking case.

Muszynski has not filed any charges related to the deaths and, until Monday, law enforcement had not publicly named any suspects in those investigations or even called them homicides.

It wasn’t immediately clear if Joshua Wirgau, also charged in the alleged hijacking and on whose property police found Bills’ body, also is a suspect. Police earlier called him a person of interest in Bills’ death.

Police would not comment on the investigations on Monday.

Mike Vogler, Srebnik’s attorney, could not be reached for reaction on Monday to Muszynski calling his client a suspect in a homicide investigation, though he acknowledged the accusation in court.

Wirgau’s attorney, Rick Steiger, would not comment on whether police consider his client a suspect in the deaths.

Though police have not publicized a connection between Srebnik and either death, Muszynski said Srebnik was one of the last people seen with both Bills, 17, and Hill, 31, before their disappearances.

Tow truck driver Greg Schuelke, who knew Srebnik, Hill, and Wirgau, earlier this month testified that those three held him at gunpoint and ordered him to drive them a short distance from Wirgau’s house in Alpena Township to an intersection near a home owned by Srebnik’s relatives.

According to the driver, Wirgau held a pistol and Srebnik and Hill carried assault-type rifles and a black bag during the hijacking.

Police found guns resembling those described by the driver at a home near the intersection and in the nearby woods, along with ammunition and several black duffel bags. A trail cam image showed Srebnik and Wirgau in the woods, Muszynski said in the court filing.

Neither police nor the prosecutor have said what was in the bags.

Vogler told 26th Circuit Court Judge Ed Black on Monday that his client’s freedom should only depend on the hijacking case, not the death investigations, and urged Black to lower Srebnik’s bond so he might afford freedom while the hijacking case proceeds.

In court on Monday, Muszynski said Srebnik has every reason to flee if released on bond, has the means to do so, and could threaten the community if he’s on the streets.

Srebnik knows who has helped police with their investigation, Muszynski said.

Earlier this month, Schuelke testified that, shortly after the alleged hijacking, he heard Srebnik had a “hit” out on him and wanted to kill him, according to Muszynski.

Black reduced Srebnik’s bond to $350,000 cash or surety, saying he will not reduce it further. Srebnik could secure release by paying the full amount of the loan or offering property worth that amount ― to be forfeited if he flees prosecution ― or by paying a bail bondsman a percentage of the total bond, usually 10%.

Srebnik is being held in the Presque Isle County Jail.

Wirgau, also held on a $500,000 bond, will request a reduced bond next month, Steiger said.