North Carolina man accused of killing elderly relatives outside their home

An elderly couple – considered “pillars of the community” – was gunned down in the driveway of their North Carolina home.

Michael Powell, 72, and his wife Carolyn, 70, were found dead by a neighbor on Thursday, November 7, around 10:26 p.m.

Both victims were shot in the head with a shotgun at point blank range, according to a press release posted on Facebook by the Northampton County Sheriff’s Office.

Arrested in the murders is Ryvarie’s Butcher, a relative and neighbor of the retired couple.

According to Northampton County Sheriff Jack Smith, Powell and his wife had just returned to their home outside Gaston when they were shot.

“It all happened in their yard before they could even get into the house,” Smith tells PEOPLE. “I don’t know where he came from, if he was near their house or came out of his house. It only took a matter of seconds for them to be dead.”

After the shooting, Butcher, 35, allegedly stole the couple’s pickup and fled the area.

Officers found the truck the next day, at 2:20 a.m., in the parking lot of a hotel in Roanoke Rapids.

Slager was arrested later that day.

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He has since been charged with two counts of first-degree murder and one count of theft of a motor vehicle.

Smith says investigators have not yet determined a motive.

“It’s still under investigation,” he said.

“It’s very sad,” he adds. “They were as nice as any Sunday school teacher you ever met. These were very good Christian people, pillars in the community. It was a terrible way to leave this earth.”