SHERIDAN -- The murder charges against three Sheridan teens accused of killing a 79-year-old man during a burglary that netted $31 were moved to District Court on Friday.

After a 90-minute hearing that included extensive testimony from a Wyoming state investigator, Sheridan County Circuit Court Judge J. John Sampson said there was probable cause to move the criminal cases against the teens forward. Sampson maintained bond for each at $200,000. They remain in custody.

Dennis Poitra Jr., 19; Wyatt Bear Cloud, 16, and Dharminder Vir Sen, 15, are accused of breaking into a house shortly before 1 a.m. on Aug. 26. The homeowner, Robert Ernst, a well-known Sheridan businessman, was shot to death with a 9 mm handgun during the burglary.

All three teens have been charged with first-degree murder and two counts of aggravated burglary. Prosecutors have charged the younger teens as adults, and all three are expected to be arraigned in District Court at a later date.

The teens sat quietly in the jury box on Friday as Sheridan County Prosecutor Matthew Redle questioned Chad Quarterman, an agent with the Wyoming Division of Criminal Investigation. Before the agent testified, Sampson denied a defense motion to close the hearing to the public.

Quarterman said tips about possible suspects in the slaying began coming in to investigators within hours of the incident, many from other teens who said Vir Sen had been showing off the handgun at a city park and talking about the shooting. Prosecutors allege Vir Sen fired the fatal shots during the burglary.

Investigators had soon spoken to all three teens, Quarterman said, and each gave similar accounts of the events leading up to the shooting.

Poitra and Vir Sen hatched a plan to do a "random robbery" earlier in the evening while smoking marijuana, Quarterman said. Poitra told police he wanted money to leave town, and he knew Vir Sen had recently stolen a 9 mm pistol. After retrieving the pistol from Vir Sen's house, the two went to Bear Cloud's house where they enlisted him in the plan, Quarterman testified.

The trio armed themselves with a 2-by-4 board, a knife and the gun, wore dark clothing and wrapped bandanas around their faces before striking out about midnight. They attempted to enter several houses, but were scared away either by barking dogs or lights. Eventually, they found the Ernst house, where a window had been left open.

Poitra, who was carrying the handgun, cut a screen and entered the house through the window. He then let Vir Sen and Bear Cloud in through a door. Bear Cloud propped open the door with patio furniture.

Once inside, the teens began looking for cash, and other valuables. At one point, they passed the master bedroom and could see people sleeping in the room. They continued their search for valuables in the basement.

The teen's statements began to differ as they separately described what happened next.

According to Poitra, Quarterman said, they were in the basement when Vir Sen asked him for the pistol. The three then went back upstairs and approached the bedroom where Ernst and his wife were sleeping. As Vir Sen stood in the doorway, he yelled "Don't move," followed by a profanity. Poitra said his bandana slipped off his face, so he stepped back and was fixing it when he heard three gunshots.

In his statement, Bear Cloud said that while in the basement Vir Sen asked Poitra for the handgun so he could "interrogate" the homeowners and force them to open a safe they had found, Quarterman said. Vir Sen yelled into the bedroom and then fired three times, Bear Cloud told investigators.

Quaterman said Vir Sen gave a slightly different version of the shooting. After finding $31 in a purse, Poitra said "We have to do this, we have to rob these people." The plan, Vir Sen explained, was for Poitra to use the board if the homeowners resisted.

Vir Sen said he stepped into the bedroom with the gun, someone yelled and the woman screamed. The man got out of bed and was approaching him, Vir Sen said. When Poitra failed to stop the man's advance, Vir Sen said he "freaked out" and shot three times.

All three teens said they returned to Bear Cloud's residence, about two blocks away, after the shooting.

Quarterman said an autopsy showed Ernst was hit twice, once in the abdomen and once in the lower chest. Linda Ernst called 911 about 1 a.m. and reported her husband had been shot by intruders wearing dark clothes and masks.