Two men accused of the shotgun murders of a Murdock, Nebraska couple have entered pleas of not guilty.

Nicholas Sampson, 22, of Palmyra, and his cousin Matthew Livers, 28, of Lincoln, entered their pleas in Cass County District Court. They were charged April 27 with two counts of first-degree murder and the use of a firearm to commit a felony in the deaths of Wayne and Sharmon Stock.

The Stocks were found shot to death in their Cass County farmhouse two miles west of Murdock on April 17. Both had been shot in the head at close range.

Livers is Wayne Stock's nephew.

Also charged in the case are Jessica M. Reid, 17, and Gregory D. Fester II, 19, both of Horicon, Wisconsin. Both were charged with two counts of murder and two counts of use of a firearm in the Stocks' deaths.

They were being held in Dodge County, Wisconsin, on car theft and other charges when Nebraska investigators focused on them in the Murdock deaths.

Sampson's attorney, Jerry Soucie, said Sampson did not know Fester or Reid. He also said it was likely Reid and Fester learned of the charges against Sampson and Livers on the Internet and used the information in their statements.

According to court records in Wisconsin, Reid told investigators that she and Fester drove to Murdock and met Sampson and another man outside a local bar. She said they followed the men to a house outside of town, intending to steal money from the home. While at the home, Reid said, she saw an older man being shot in the head.

Fester told investigators he witnessed Wayne Stock's murder and that he and Reid threw the weapons in a roadside ditch, though he said he wasn't sure where.

Judge Randall L. Rehmeier said he expected trials for Livers and Sampson to begin late this year or early next year.

"It's my anticipation that there's going to be a number of different motions made in court, which we'll be taking up and looking at," Rehmeier said.

Reid and Fester are awaiting extradition from Wisconsin.