Teen killer who spent 30 years behind bars commits more sickening crimes just four months after prison release
A murderer who killed his mother and brother when he was 15 has killed two more people just four months after serving his sentence, police say.
Dustin Caudill was 15 when he was arrested for the deaths of his mother Karen Caudill, 33, and younger brother Nicholas, 10, in Elizabethtown, Kentucky, in 1994.
Police said at the time that Caudill shot his brother after an argument over his marijuana smoke. He then shot and killed his mother when she arrived home later that evening.
Caudill, now 43, was released in 2020 after 27 years in prison but was arrested again in 2023 for violating his parole.
Police now say that just four months after his release, Caudill killed Blake France, 41, and Anthony Garret, 43, before setting fire to an Elizabethtown home.
Dustin Caudill, who spent nearly 30 years in prison for killing his mother and brother, reportedly shot and killed two people just four months after his release
Caudill was 15 when he was arrested for the deaths of his mother Karen Caudill, 33, and younger brother Nicholas, 10, in 1994
The victims were found shot dead in the burned-out house, after which police launched an investigation into both arson and murder
Witnesses said they saw a gold pickup truck leaving the murder scene, leading them to Caudill.
The killer was found at a nearby motel and seen disposing of a gun, according to police.
The victims were found shot dead in the burned down house, after which the police started an investigation
Caudill “specifically admitted to shooting the victims and intentionally setting the residence on fire,” Elizabethtown police spokesman Chris Denham said.
He also admitted to stealing the victims’ wallets and throwing them away at a gas station, and to trying to shoot a third person.
Caudill is charged with one count of first-degree arson, two counts of murder, one count of tampering with physical evidence, one count of first-degree wanton endangerment, one count of first-degree theft and one count of possession from a convicted felon’s gun.
Police have not yet shared a possible motive for the latest massacre.
The victims were found shot to death in the burned-out house, after which police launched an investigation into both arson and murder. Victim Blake France is pictured
Caudill “specifically admitted to shooting the victims and intentionally setting the residence on fire,” officials said. Victim Anthony Garrett is pictured
In 1994, the killer claimed that his mother smoked marijuana and hit him, adding that his family always “jumped on him and hit him,” as reported in local media at the time.
Caudill told police that the night of the murders he “just snapped.”
‘We were playing cards and talking, and then he started acting stupid. He started acting just like a little brother,” the killer told police of the moments before he killed his brother.
Caudhill was filmed being bundled into a police car as a baby-faced teenager. But he now has a terrifying set of facial tattoos.