Westmoreland County man killed after meeting with ‘business associate’ over $440K debt, police say

ALLEGHENY COUNTY, Pa. — Police say a former business associate of a Westmoreland County man was involved in his disappearance and death.

On Saturday, the Allegheny County Police Department announced charges for William Fortuna, 58, of Conway, Braden Elliott, 20, of Chicora, and Jeremy Fisher, 41, of Coraopolis, in the murder of George Dayieb, 57, of Murrysville. Fortuna and Elliott were arrested Saturday and Fisher was taken into custody Sunday morning. They are all facing multiple charges including criminal homicide, criminal conspiracy and abuse of a corpse.

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In a press conference Sunday, police clarified that Fisher and Dayieb were “business associates.” They also said Fortuna is an employee of Fisher and Elliott is Fisher’s nephew as well as an employee of his.

A criminal complaint says Fisher and Dayieb were partners in an excavation company.

The search for Dayieb began Dec. 27 after he was reported missing and endangered to Murrysville police by his significant other and his truck was found abandoned later the same day.

The complaint alleges on that day, Dayieb was meeting Fisher to collect a $439,432 debt for the purchase of equipment that was supposed to be wired from Fisher’s family member on Dec. 22., but never was. Police say Fisher conspired with Elliott and Fortuna to kill Dayieb. In the complaint, Elliott allegedly told police Fisher offered to buy him a diesel truck if he helped in the murder.

Police previously said Dayieb got into Fisher’s vehicle at a gas station on Broadhead Road in Coraopolis. According to the complaint, Elliott was also in the vehicle and Fortuna was following them in his vehicle without Dayieb’s knowledge.

Police say ahead of everyone getting in the car, Fisher got a revolver from Fortuna and gave it to Elliott to kill Dayieb with. The complaint says the gun didn’t fire the first time Elliott tried to shoot it while they were driving on I-376.

“During the car ride, Elliott was seated behind George,” said Allegheny County Police Assistant Superintendent Victor Joseph. “At some point in the ride, he attempted to shoot George in the back of the head. There was a malfunction in the gun and the gun didn’t fire.”

After they pulled over on Glenwood Way in Butler County to fix the weapon, it did fire when he tried again while they were driving under the Mercer Bridge.

“Fisher, at some point, texts Elliott telling him ‘now,’ signaling for him to shoot George,” Joseph said. “Elliott then shot George one time in the back of the head, killing him.”

At this point, the complaint states Fortuna and Fisher get in Fortuna’s car, while Elliott transports Dayieb’s body to a “camp” in Licking Township, Clarion County, eventually hiding it in a trailer and covering it with “cushions and pillows.” Police found Dayieb’s body with a gunshot wound to the head in the trailer Friday after they executed a search warrant on the property.

Police say they were able to use texts, cell phone data, license plate readers and surveillance video to create a timeline of events.

“We’re happy to bring this to a close for George’s family,” Joseph said. “I can’t imagine what they’ve been going through the past few days.”

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