ELIZABETHTOWN, Ky. (WDRB) -- Two people were found dead inside a burning home in Elizabethtown early Wednesday, and police have arrested a man they said confessed to the crimes.
Firefighters responded to the burning home in the 500 block of Henon Lane around 5 a.m. Elizabethtown Police Department spokesperson Chris Denham said that's when firefighters found two men dead inside.
"Any time we respond to a scene of a fire and find deceased people, we're going to conduct a very thorough investigation," Denham told WDRB Wednesday.
According to Denham, the two men who were identified as 41-year-old Blake France of Greenville, Kentucky, and 43-year-old Anthony Garrett of Elizabethtown "had sustained gunshot wounds." It is unclear if the two men lived at the residence.
Denham said Wednesday evening that the fire had been intentionally set, and witnesses reported a gold pickup truck leaving the scene. Denham said police found the truck at a local motel.
During a news briefing Wednesday morning, Denham said the man was being interviewed by police.
In an update Wednesday evening, Denham said 45-year-old Dustin Caudill, the man they had been questioning, confessed to the shooting the victims and intentionally setting the fire. Denham said Caudill also confessed to stealing wallets from the victims and throwing them away in a gas station trash can.
Denham also said the investigation revealed Caudill had "also discharged his firearm at a third victim," who was not hit. He did not have any additional details about that person.
Denham said surveillance video from the hotel where investigators found the gold pickup truck showed Caudill getting out of the truck and discarding a handgun. Police also found some of the victims' belongings in his hotel room.
For several hours Wednesday, police and fire officials had all of Henon Lane blocked while they investigated the scene.
"It's really sad," said a neighbor who lives on a street nearby.
She said she hopes police are able to figure out what happened.
"I heard the sirens and I saw the flickering and I looked out the window and it was on fire," she said, pointing at the home down the road.
Caudill was charged with arson, two counts of murder, tampering with physical evidence, possession of a handgun by a convicted felon, robbery and wanton endangerment.
He is being held at the Hardin County Detention Center. It is unclear when he will be in court.
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