The accused triggerman in a multi-county murder plot testified against his co-conspirators at a preliminary hearing Friday, admitting that he shot and killed George Dayieb but testifying the plot was orchestrated by the other two.

Braden Elliott, 20, of Chicora, Butler County, testified for several hours through the assistance of a sign language interpreter, although he answered the attorneys’ questions himself. He is charged with homicide, abuse of a corpse, tampering with evidence and conspiracy.

His co-defendants, who face the same charges, are his uncle, 41-year-old Jeremy Fisher, of Coraopolis, and Fisher’s business associate, William Fortuna, 58, of Conway, Beaver County.

Assistant District Attorney Emma Schoedel asked Mr. Elliott if he shot and killed Dayieb, of Murrysville.

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“Yes, that is correct,” he said.

Wendy Williams, defense attorney for Fisher, asked Mr. Elliott if he had been promised anything in return for his earnest testimony. Mr. Elliott waived his preliminary hearing last month and was formally arraigned Feb. 9.

He told Ms. Williams he had not been promised anything like leniency or special considerations in return for his testimony. The judge did not allow Ms. Williams to probe any further.

After the hearing, she said she believed Mr. Elliot was being untruthful.

“Anytime you have the admitted killer — and face it, Mr. Elliott agreed that he sat behind George Dayieb and made the decision to shoot him in the back of the head … hid the body in his own trailer, he transported the body — you have to wonder what is motive is for blaming everybody else,” she said.

Ms. Williams said she believes Mr. Elliott does, in fact, have an agreement with prosecutors that will allow him to plead to a charge lower than first-degree murder.

Mr. Elliott said that he had been at his uncle’s house Dec. 26 when Fisher asked him if he would do him a favor — kill Dayieb. He said he told his uncle he had a future ahead of him and wanted to “keep doing what I need to do.” Fisher asked him again at lunchtime and dinnertime, too.

Fisher asked again the next morning when the two met Mr. Fortuna at a Speedway gas station for coffee. Mr. Elliott said Fisher and Mr. Fortuna talked to each other while he used Bluetooth to listen to something on his phone through his cochlear implants.

Fisher asked him again, Mr. Elliott said. He hadn’t taken his ADHD medication that day, he said, and he “wasn’t thinking straight.” His uncle promised him a truck in return. Mr. Elliott said yes.

From there, according to Mr. Elliott, Dec. 27 played out like this: Fisher removed the headrest from the front passenger seat of his truck, and he and Mr. Elliott drove to a nearby lot where they met Mr. Fortuna. Mr. Fortuna gave Mr. Elliott a .38-caliber revolver, which Mr. Elliott shoved into his waistband. Mr. Fortuna left before Dayieb arrived and got into the passenger seat of Fisher’s truck.

They headed toward Butler, and Mr. Elliott testified that he had been instructed to shoot Dayieb on a desolate stretch of Interstate 376. He tried, he said, but the gun wouldn’t fire. He texted Fisher and Mr. Fortuna in code, indicating that his “nail gun” — the revolver — wouldn’t fire.

Mr. Elliott said he realized Mr. Fortuna was following behind them when he saw his phone connect to the Bluetooth in Fisher’s car. He texted Mr. Fortuna and told him to disconnect it.

“That’s pretty smart,” Ms. Williams noted on cross examination.

The secret convoy pulled over at a gas station, and Mr. Elliott gave the revolver over to Mr. Fortuna. He said he went to the restroom in the gas station, and Fisher told him everything would be OK. Mr. Elliott got the gun back from Mr. Fortuna, and they began driving again — Fisher driving, Dayieb in the passenger seat, Mr. Elliott behind Dayieb, and Mr. Fortuna in his own truck.

Somewhere on Route 422, Mr. Elliott received a text from his uncle from the front seat: “Now.”

He shot Dayieb in the back of the head, specifically the “soft spot” at the base of his skull, he said. Mr. Fortuna and Fisher told Mr. Elliott to take Dayieb’s body to “camp” — a pair of trailers on a plot of land in Clarion County. Mr. Elliott said he did as he was told, assuming the other two would follow him there.

Instead, Mr. Elliott was left to take care of Dayieb’s body himself. He said he texted his uncle and Mr. Fortuna for help. He told Mr. Fortuna he needed help with “the pipe” — Dayieb’s body. Mr. Fortuna told him to take care of “the pipe” himself. He dragged Dayieb into the trailer and left him there. His truck got stuck, and Mr. Fortuna ultimately came and took him home. They went to retrieve the truck the next day.

The plan unraveled later on Dec. 27 when Dayieb’s truck was found abandoned near McKees Rocks. Allegheny County police Detective Stephen Hitchings said Dayieb’s girlfriend said he’d gone to meet Fisher about a business debt Dayieb was owed.

Ms. Williams pressed detectives on whether Fisher actually did owe Dayieb any money — did they do any digging beyond asking Dayieb’s girlfriend?

“I mean like real police work,” she said.

“That is real police work,” Detective Hitchings said.

Police found Dayieb’s body in the trailer in Clarion County Dec. 29.

Investigators said Fisher had a bill of sale that showed he paid Dayieb more than $700,000, after which Dayieb cut a check back to him for $100,000. It wasn’t clear what that money was for, but Detective Hitchings indicated there was some question as to the bill of sale’s authenticity.

“He didn’t have [expletive],” the detective said of Fisher. “He didn’t have a pot to piss in.”

District Judge Michele Santicola ultimately held all charges against both men. Formal arraignment is set for next month.

Stephen Colafella, the defense attorney representing Mr. Fortuna, called Mr. Elliott’s testimony “interesting,” noting that attorneys could not probe deeply about whether Mr. Elliott has been promised anything in return for his cooperation.

He said the testimony seemed to indicate that his client wasn’t there when Fisher discussed the murder plan with Mr. Elliott.

“There’s certainly evidence that he may have been involved after the fact — that is in tampering with evidence — but that’s something that will be borne out by the evidence as we get a little further along in the case,” Mr. Colafella said.

Ms. Williams maintained that Fisher, her client, was not the mastermind behind the plot.

“Our position is that the nephew, Mr. Elliott, did not like George [Dayieb] — in fact, he hated George,” she said. “George wasn’t always the kindest person to Mr. Elliott. He made fun of him and gave him the [expletive] jobs, for lack of a better term.”

First Published: February 16, 2024, 9:41 p.m.
Updated: February 19, 2024, 4:42 p.m.