JACKSONVILLE – Thomas Howard III, the son of a couple found murdered Wednesday morning, made his first appearance in court Thursday afternoon. A judge ordered him held without bond.
Howard is charged with two counts of murder and one count of arson with great bodily injury.
Police arrested Howard Wednesday afternoon just a few hundred yards from his parents' Southside apartment off Hodges Boulevard.
Investigators tell NewsChannel 4 that they will not know the exact cause of death until the autopsies are complete, but they said that this is a case with extraodinary and unusual conditions.
Officials also said that the Howards lived in the apartment for the last six months. They moved to Jacksonville from Mississippi, but authorities are not sure whether the suspect lived at the apartment full time.
Investigators believe that the suspect kept an apartment somewhere nearby, they think somewhere on the Southside. They also tell NewsChannel 4 that there are no documented problems with this family and the suspect has no criminal history.
