OKLAHOMA CITY – from www.ajc.com – — A former Marine and mixed martial arts fighter was ordered Friday to stand trial for first-degree murder in the shooting deaths of a 22-year-old prostitute featured on the HBO reality series “Cathouse” and three other people.

Oklahoma County Special Judge Stephen P. Alcorn entered a not guilty plea for David Allen Tyner, 29, after the ruling, which followed a two-day preliminary hearing during which witnesses testified that drugs and money led to the victims’ deaths.

District Attorney David Prater said he will seek the death penalty.

Tyner is charged with the Nov. 9, 2009, shooting deaths of Brooke Phillips and Milagrous Barrera, both 22, Jennifer Ermey, 25, and Mark Barrientos, 32. The victims were found inside a burning home in southwest Oklahoma City that witnesses testified was the center of a drug distribution and prostitution ring operated by Barrientos.

Phillips had worked at the Moonlite Bunny Ranch, a legal brothel near Carson City, Nev., that was featured in the HBO reality series, “Cathouse.” Because she and Barrera were pregnant at the time of the killings, Tyner faces a total of six counts of first-degree murder.

Tyner, dressed in a striped jail-issued jumpsuit and shackled at the wrists and ankles, showed no emotion following the hearing. His attorney, Mitch Solomon of the Oklahoma County Public Defender’s Office, declined comment.

Prater said the investigation into the killings is ongoing and that authorities are looking for other suspects.

“I’d be lying to you if I said I don’t have any other suspects,” Prater said.

According to testimony during the preliminary hearing, Tyner and a second man, Denny Phillips, 32, hatched a plan to kill Barrientos because they were not happy with the amount of money they received from his drug and prostitution operation. Tyner worked as a bodyguard for Barrientos and Phillips participated in drug deals with him, according to testimony.

“It was just a big, stupid situation over money,” Karine Sanders, who identified herself as Tyner’s cousin, said on the witness stand. Sanders said she overheard the two men making plans to kill Barrientos and that, at one point, Tyner said they could leave no living witnesses to identify them.

Sanders, who is also Denny Phillips’ former girlfriend, said she frequently visited the house prior to the shootings and saw stacks of marijuana bricks and other drugs, tables covered with of cash and naked women roaming around. Sanders said she witnessed a number of drug deals in which $75,000 to $100,000 would change hands.

“There was always girls, and Casey was always having a party,” Sanders said, referring to Barrientos by his nickname. “It was like a movie.”

Prosecutors have no evidence that Denny Phillips was at the scene of the shootings, and he has not been charged. He is being held in the Tulsa County Jail after being shot three times by Tulsa police in April when he allegedly pointed a gun at officers in an unrelated case.

His attorney, Jeff Price of Claremore, has said he was not aware of testimony in Tyner’s case and had no comment.

The sole survivor of the shooting, Jose Fierro, said Tyner appeared at the house in the early morning hours on the day of the shooting looking for Barrientos, who was not there. Fierro said he was in a bedroom when Barrientos arrived.

“I heard Casey yell, and then gunshots,” said Fierro, who escaped through the garage. “It was just a lot of rounds.”

Forensic pathologists testified that most of the victims died from multiple gunshot wounds, but Ermey died from smoke inhalation after the interior of the house was set ablaze, indicating she was still alive after being shot through the head.

Prosecutors opted for the death penalty based on the several factors, including the heinousness of the crime and the allegation that witnesses were killed to avoid arrest.

Tyner was ordered to return to court on Feb. 23 for a pretrial conference.