CRAWFORD COUNTY, Pa. (EYT) – According to sources, the four men who allegedly murdered a Conneautville-area resident last August will be put on trial together in Crawford County Court of Common Pleas.

According to Pennsylvania State Police, 46-year-old Ronald Shreffler was shot during a robbery attempt at his home on Abbot Road in Summerhill Township during the early morning of August 30, 2011.

Police have accused 18-year-old Brandon Todd Tracy of Titusville, Pa.; 20-year-old Alan J. Watkins of Harmonsburg, Pa.; and brothers, 18-year-old Austin Lee Taylor and 16-year-old Dakota L. Taylor of Harmonsburg, Pa., of plotting to rob Shreffler of a large amount of marijuana and cash.

According to sources, Tracy contacted Pennsylvania State Police on September 20, 2011; he admitted to shooting Shreffler.

Sources say Tracy told police that Austin Taylor was pointing a gun at his head during the incident, and he was forced to take part in the plan and shoot Shreffler or be killed himself.

At a Crawford County Court hearing in April, defense attorneys for the suspects argued the four defendants have antagonistic defenses and would conflict at a combined homicide trial since each defendant would be implicating the others.

Tracy, Watkins, and the Taylor brothers are scheduled to go on trial in Crawford County Court of Common Pleas in September of 2012.

All four suspects remain lodged in the Crawford County Jail in Saegertown without bond.

Source: Meadville Tribune