BROOKSVILLE — Two of four people charged in the December shooting deaths of two Dixie Heights High School graduates at a Bracken County farmhouse entered guilty pleas Thursday, and are expected to testify against the other two defendants.

        Douglas E. Baker Jr., 20, and Ronald Leslie Kirk, 23, signed guilty pleas to two counts each of murder, and four counts each of tampering with physical evidence.

        The bodies of Ryan Eric Matchison, 22, and Adam C. Harvey, 20, were found Dec. 17 near a boat ramp off Ky. 8. Both had been shot, and their bodies were wrapped in sleeping bags and a tarpaulin.

        Sentences of life in prison without possibility of parole for at least 25 years was recommended for the murder pleas for both Mr. Baker and Mr. Kirk by the commonwealth attorney.

        Each count of tampering with physical evidence carries up to five years in prison. The sentences would be served concurrently.

        “Assuming the judge accepts the pleas, it will allow them to be called as witnesses,” said Stockton Wood, commonwealth attorney for Bracken, Mason and Fleming counties.

        “We have two eyewitnesses who will now be able to tell the jury rather than go through a complicated process of trying to screen statements made under the rules of court,” Mr. Stockton said. “This way, the entire story of the two who (pleaded) may be used.”

        Waiting for trial are Russell Walter Malapelli, 27, charged with two counts of murder and four counts of tampering with physical evidence, and Dawn Renee Duffy, 18, charged with four counts of tampering with physical evidence. Both are being held at the Mason County jail.

        Sentencing hearings will be 1 p.m. May 8 for Mr. Baker and 10:30 a.m. May 24 for Mr. Kirk.

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