Police say Butler County resident was trigger man in shooting death
A Chicora man admitted to shooting a Murrysville contractor, who was owed more than $400,000, while riding in a vehicle Dec. 27 and hiding the body in a trailer at a Clarion County camp, according to police.
Braden Elliott, 20, is charged with homicide, conspiracy to commit homicide, conspiracy to use a communication facility, conspiracy to tamper with evidence and abuse of a corpse in the death of 57-year-old George Dayieb, according to Allegheny County police.
Police said Dayieb died from a single gunshot wound to the back of his head.
Elliott, his uncle Jeremy Fisher, 41, of Coraopolis, and William Fortuna, 58, of Conway, have been arrested and are facing the same charges in the death of Dayieb, whose body was found Dec. 29 in a trailer in Clarion County.
Fortuna, Elliott and Fisher are in custody without bail in the Allegheny County Jail pending preliminary hearings. Elliott and Fortuna were taken into custody Saturday, and police arrested Fisher on Sunday morning.
Elliott is accused of twice pulling the trigger while pointing a gun at the back of Dayieb’s head. The gun didn’t initially go off, but the second shot fatally wounded Dayieb, police said.
According to police, Elliott was riding in the back seat of a vehicle driven by Fisher on the Parkway East, when Elliott pointed the gun at Dayieb’s head and pulled the trigger. Dayieb was seated in the passenger seat, police said.
When the gun didn’t fire, police said, Fisher pulled into a truck stop on Route 422 in Portersville, where Fisher bought gas and Elliott took the gun to Fortuna, who was following in another vehicle and also stopped. Fortuna fixed the gun before giving it back to Elliott, according to police.
After getting back in Fisher’s vehicle and driving, Fisher texted “now” to Elliott who delayed slightly before shooting Dayieb after passing under the “Mercer Bridge,” police said.
Elliott reclined Dayieb’s seat and pulled his hood over his head as Fisher and Fortuna drove to a business on Glenwood Way in Butler County, where Elliott took Dayieb’s phone and keys and gave them to Fisher along with a gun, police said.
Elliott then followed Fisher’s instruction to drive Dayieb’s body to the camp in Fisher’s truck, police said.
At the camp, Elliott followed instructions to conceal Dayieb’s body by dragging it from the truck to the trailer, where he covered the body with cushions and pillows, police said.
According to police, Fortuna went to the camp to pick up Elliott after Elliott called and reported he got Fisher’s truck stuck in the mud at a Clarion County camp. They drove to Fisher’s home, where Elliott took a shower and gave his clothes to Fortuna, police said.
Dayieb’s girlfriend told investigators Dayieb and Fisher were partners in an excavation business, and Fisher owed Dayieb $439,432 for equipment he purchased for Fisher, police said.
Homicide detectives opened the investigation after Kennedy Township police located an unoccupied pickup truck owned by Dayieb’s construction company in the township and learned Dayieb had been reported missing and endangered by Murrysville police. He was last seen Dec. 27.
Detectives were told by Dayieb’s girlfriend that he left their home the morning of Dec. 27 to meet Fisher in Butler County to collect the money, police said. She said Fisher told Dayieb the money would be wired to him Dec. 26, and Dayieb became upset when the money didn’t arrive, police said.
Using a cellphone app, Dayieb’s girlfriend tracked his phone to the area of Evans City and Harmony before it traveled back toward Pittsburgh on Interstate 79 south and then shut off near the Sewickley Bridge at 12:51 p.m. Dec. 27, police said.
Based on interviews and other information, police said Dayieb’s truck was traveling on Broadhead Road in Moon Township at 10:12 a.m., and he is recorded on a security camera getting into Fisher’s pickup truck off Broadhead Road in Coraopolis at 10:17 a.m.
Dayieb and his girlfriend exchanged texts about 15 minutes later. Dayieb then talked to someone and said he is meeting with Fisher to go to Butler. At 11:30 a.m., Dayieb and his girlfriend exchange another text, police said.
Just before noon, an emergency ping located Dayieb’s phone near a business on Glenwood Way, police said.
Dayieb’s girlfriend tried to contact him shortly after noon, but he didn’t respond. At 12:51 p.m., she told police the Sewickley Bridge was the last location her phone detected Dayieb’s phone, police said.
License plate readers recorded Dayieb’s truck just after 1 p.m. in Coraopolis, then in Moon Township a few minutes later. A pickup truck registered to Fortuna also was recorded on the same reader that detected Dayieb’s truck in Moon Township, police said.
Dayieb’s truck was found at 5:24 p.m. in Kennedy Township, Allegheny County.
Police said they discovered Dayieb’s body in a trailer at Clarion County camp. They obtained a search warrant for the trailer Dec. 29 after Fortuna told detectives he went there to help Elliott retrieve Fisher’s truck, which was stuck in mud.
Elliott talked to police after Dayieb’s body was found. Police said Elliott reported he declined Fisher’s first two requests Dec. 27 to kill Dayieb, but he agreed the third time Fisher asked. He said Fisher began asking him for help on Dec. 26, police said.
Before meeting Dayieb in a parking lot along Broadhead Road in Coraopolis, Fisher removed the headrest from the passenger seat and put a blanket on the passenger seat, police said.
This story was updated at 8:57 a.m. Jan. 3, 2024, to reflect the correct name of the deceased and relationships between the defendants. A previous version of this story misidentified Dayieb and Fisher’s relationship to Elliott.
Then Fisher got a .38-caliber revolver from Fortuna, who went to the lot in his pickup truck, and gave the gun to Elliott, police said. Dayieb arrived in the lot and got into the front passenger seat of Fisher’s truck and Elliott was in the back seat, police said. As they drove, Fortuna followed in his truck unbeknown to Dayieb, police said.
On Dec. 28, Elliott and Fortuna returned to the camp, freed Fisher’s truck from the mud and then took both trucks to a car wash, police said.
