Investigators want to know if the man accused of killing his wealthy Brady Township father and stepmother made incriminating statements during recorded telephone calls while in prison in Butler County and in New Jersey.

Colin Abbott in one call purportedly told a relative he knew what happened to the couple, according to recently released court documents.

In another call to his girlfriend, apparently soon after his arrest, he allegedly asked her to get rid of a cell phone that was in his truck.

The 41-year-old Colin Abbott of Randolph, N.J., is charged with killing Kenneth Abbott, 65, and Celeste Abbott, 55, in early June, and burning their bodies in the backyard of the couple’s 25-acre West Liberty Road estate.

State police did not find the couple’s charred remains until July 13. A day later, police in New Jersey arrested Colin Abbott.

He remained jailed in the Morris County Prison in Morristown, N.J., for about two weeks until he was extradited to Pennsylvania on two counts each of homicide and abuse of a corpse.

He has remained in the Butler County Prison without bail since July 28. A preliminary hearing in the case is set for Thursday.

Prosecutors suspect Colin Abbott’s greed was the motive for the killings.

His attorney, James Donohue, has maintained his client’s innocence.

Investigators have not said how the couple was killed. They have tried to keep other evidence secret.

On Aug. 25, Butler County President Judge Thomas Doerr issued a gag order that bars attorneys, police and potential witnesses from discussing the investigation with the media.

While the defendant has offered no voluntary statements to investigators, authorities previously acknowledged, he possibly made other statements that could be used against him.

Some of the suspected self-incriminating comments were detailed in a search warrant obtained by the Butler County District Attorney’s office on Sept. 21.

The warrant allows prosecutors to access recorded phone calls Abbott made to family and friends while he was in the Morris County Prison.

According to Butler County Prison policy, warden Rich Gigliotti said, all outgoing calls made from the prison are recorded, except those to inmates’ lawyers.

On occasion but not often, he said, prosecutors request those recordings as part of their investigations. A warrant is not required to release the recordings.

Inmate phone calls at the Morris County Prison are recorded.

But in New Jersey, those recordings require a warrant based on probable cause, said Capt. Jeffrey S. Paul of the Morris County Prosecutor’s office.

In court papers seeking the warrant, police said they interviewed “people associated with Abbott” and learned he “has made incriminating statements during phone conversations” from the New Jersey and Butler County prisons.

Investigators noted the calls from both prisons are recorded with the inmates’ knowledge.

Police said during their investigation they interviewed Colin Abbott’s uncle, James Abbott of Clay Township, who disclosed that he had spoken to his nephew after the defendant was jailed in New Jersey.

“James Abbott related that Colin made a statement to the effect that he knew what happened, but couldn’t tell his story yet,” documents said.

Colin Abbott’s girlfriend, Rayna Regenthal, also told police about at least one phone call she had with him while he was in the Morris County Prison.

“Regenthal related that Abbott told her that ‘I didn’t lay a finger on them, I was manipulated,’” court papers revealed.

Police said she also disclosed that “Colin had told her to dispose of a cell phone that (was) in his work truck,” documents said.

Additionally, the defendant allegedly contacted others in an apparent attempt to hide or deflect his role in the crime.

“Investigation has determined that Abbott had asked a friend to make phone calls to Celeste Abbott’s family posing as a police officer and as a medical examiner,” documents said.

Citing the gag order, authorities refused to comment on what investigators make of the suspected jailhouse phone conversations.

They also would not discuss the nature of any other recorded phone calls made between Colin Abbott and family, friends or others.