Arkansas police say one of four carnival workers accused of dumping the bodies of a slain Kansas couple had ordered the killings while posing as a carnival mafia member.

The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reports that carnival workers Kimberly Younger, Michael Fowler, Rusty Frasier and Christine Tenney were charged this week in Crawford County Circuit Court. The charges include abuse of a corpse in the deaths of Alfred and Pauline Carpenter.

Van Buren police say Younger posed as a carnival mafia member named "Frank Zaitchik" and texted others last month to kill the Carpenters on the fairgrounds at Great Bend, where the couple were vendors.

Police say Fowler told investigators that the killings were initiation into the carnival mafia.

Younger, Fowler and Frasier are being held on $1 million bond. Tenney is being held on $250,000 bond. All have pleaded not guilty.