CLEARFIELD — Two men charged with the murder of Chase Anderson had conflicting stories during day four of the Denny Bailey murder trial.

Chase Anderson of Curwensville was 19 years old in August 2017 when he was reported missing. His partially burned body was later recovered in a remote area of Pike Township.

In April 2018, Denny S. Bailey, now 41, Woodland, and Kenja Kasheem Tew, now 26, formerly of Clearfield, were both charged with criminal homicide, assault, kidnap to inflict terror, conspiracy and numerous related offenses.

They are accused of taking Anderson to the location where he was found, beating him and stabbing him.

During Friday morning’s testimony, a fourth interview Bailey had done with police in December 2017 was played for the jury.

In this version, Bailey claimed he was not even at the scene when the murder was committed.

Instead, he said he was home while Tew and his then-girlfriend, Chantell Demi, took Anderson to the woods and killed him.

Demi is also charged with homicide and related offenses including burning the vehicle in which Anderson was transported.

When they returned, Bailey told police they were covered with blood and he helped clean them up. He also burned the clothes and later went back to the scene to try to hide evidence by burning it, he admitted.

Bailey told police that he was previously covering for Demi because he was in love with her and now wanted to tell the “truth.”

“That was never the plan to kill that young man,” Bailey said during the interview.

The previous version of Bailey’s story had him and Tew fighting with Anderson, but Tew stabbing him in the chest while Bailey claimed to be in a haze, lying in a bush.

Before Tew testified, First Assistant District Attorney Leanne Nedza noted that Tew had been offered a plea agreement that would give him a sentence of 20 to 40 years, but he has not signed it.

Tew’s story is that Bailey asked him to go with him and Anderson to the woods so Tew could put Anderson in a chokehold while Bailey talked to him. To get him there, they told Anderson they were picking up a package of methamphetamine.

Tew didn’t want to do this because Anderson was his friend, he said, but Bailey offered to pay him. Demi was also there when the plan was discussed at Bailey’s home.

When they got to the location that Bailey and Demi had chosen, Tew said he did put Anderson in a chokehold before Bailey hit Anderson in the face. Tew let go and Bailey and Anderson wrestled in a briar bush.

Anderson fell forward onto his stomach and Bailey stabbed him several times in the back, Tew testified.

Bailey told Tew “to finish this” and threatened to kill him if he didn’t help. Tew then stabbed Anderson in the shoulder.

It was Bailey who set Anderson’s body on fire, Tew said.

When questioned about his ex-girlfriend being involved with Anderson by Bailey’s defense attorney Joe Ryan, Tew said he wasn’t bothered by this.

Bailey’s possible motives were that Anderson had looked in on him and Demi having sex, and/or he was concerned that Anderson was going to tell authorities about his drug dealings because Anderson had previously told police about Demi in a dispute about an apartment, according to previous testimony.

The trial is scheduled to last through Nov. 5.