Townshend, Vt. (AP) — Vermont State Police say an arrest warrant has been issued for a Massachusetts man in the shooting deaths of two people whose badly burned bodies were found in their Townshend home last week.
Police said today 46-year-old Justin Orwat, of Springfield, Massachusetts, is being charged with aggravated murder and first-degree arson following the fire that was reported Friday. He is jailed in Massachusetts on unrelated charges. It’s unclear if he has a lawyer.
The victims have been preliminarily identified as 43-year-old Steven Lovely and 35-year-old Amanda Sanderson.
Firefighters were called to Lovely and Sanderson’s home. An autopsy determined the two died of gunshot wounds.
Police say Orwat’s wife, Tami Orwat, implicated Justin Orwat in the shootings and the fire after Justin Orwat had been involved in a fight with Lovely.