Jeremy Fisher, William Fortuna and Braden Elliott

PITTSBURGH — The preliminary hearing for a Chicora man accused of being the triggerman in the killing of a Murrysville contractor has been postponed until Feb 16.

Braden Elliott, 20, was arrested days after police said he shot 57-year-old George Dayieb in the back of the head while the pair were riding in a pickup truck.

Elliott; Jeremy Fisher, 41, of Coraopolis; and William Fortuna, 58, of Conway, are charged with homicide, conspiracy to commit homicide, conspiracy to use a communication facility, conspiracy to tamper with evidence and abuse of a corpse. Police say Fisher, who is Elliott's uncle, were partners in a business with Dayieb and owed him more than $400,000.

The preliminary hearings for all three was scheduled for Friday, Jan. 12, but they were postponed because Elliott required an American Sign Language interpreter.

Dayieb's girlfriend told police that Dayieb was upset because Fisher had promised to wire him the money he was owed on Dec. 26, but it didn't arrive.

Dayieb left to meet Fisher on the morning of Dec. 27, his girlfriend said. Court documents indicate security camera footage showed Dayieb getting into Fisher's pickup truck in Coraopolis.

Dayieb and his girlfriend exchanged several more texts, with the last one coming around 11:30 a.m. His girlfriend told police she tracked his phone and the last time it was located was shortly before 1 p.m. near the Sewickley Bridge.

Elliott told police he pointed a gun at the back of Dayieb's head and pulled the trigger, but the gun didn't fire. Fisher stopped at a truck stop on Route 422 in Portersville and Fortuna, who was following them in his own pickup truck, fixed the gun, police said.

After getting back on the road, Fisher texted Elliott “now” and after a short delay, Elliott shot and killed Dayieb, court documents state. After firing the fatal shot, he covered Dayieb's head and reclined his seat.

After the shooting, Fisher and Fortuna stopped their trucks at a business on Glennwood Way in Butler County, and Elliott drove Dayieb's body in Fisher's truck to a camper in Clarion County, where he hid the body, police said.

According to court documents, Elliott called Fortuna for help when he got Fisher's truck stuck in the mud at the site of the camper, and after the pair freed the truck, they went to Fisher's home, where Elliott showered and gave the clothes he had been wearing to Fortuna.

Dayieb's girlfriend reached out to police when she couldn't get in touch with him, and police found Dayieb's body at the camper Dec. 29. After detectives found the body, Elliott spoke with them, and said Fisher had asked him multiple times for help killing Dayieb, starting Dec. 26.

He told police he refused the first two times Fisher asked him, but agreed the third time he was asked.