LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Information is coming to light about the past of an Elizabethtown man charged with the murders of two men found dead in a burning home early Wednesday.

Dustin Caudill, 45, was arrested hours after firefighters discovered two dead men inside a home in the 500 block of Henon Lane around 5 a.m. on Oct. 30. From the beginning, police said the death investigation had "suspicious circumstances." Police later said the victims, 41-year-old Blake France and 43-year-old Anthony Garrett, had been shot. 

Investigators tracked Caudill down at a nearby motel after receiving reports that gold pickup truck was seen leaving the scene of the fire at a high rate of speed. After several hours of questioning, police said Caudill confessed to shooting the victims and intentionally starting the fire. He also told investigators he stole the victims' wallets and threw them in the trash at a gas station, according to police.

Caudill is now charged with arson, two counts of murder, tampering with physical evidence, possession of a handgun by a convicted felon, robbery and wanton endangerment.

His first court appearance for this case was the following day on Oct. 31. The judge set his bond at $1 million full cash. He is due back in court on Nov. 6. 

According to court records, this is not the first time Caudill has been charged with murder. An old newspaper article from the Courier Journal says Caudill shot and killed mother and younger brother in 1994.

He was sentenced to decades in prison. WDRB archive footage from the 1990s shows several of Caudill's court appearances during that time, when he was around 15 years old.

According to the the Kentucky Department of Corrections, Caudill began serving that sentence on Sept. 20, 1996. He was released from custody by the Parole Board on April 1, 2020, then taken back into custody on May 11, 2023, after a parole violation.

The Department of Corrections said he received his final discharge from custody for completion of his sentence earlier this year, on July 1, 2024.

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