JOHN DAY — Almost two years after a fire destroyed a home east of Mt. Vernon, a suspect has been arrested on two counts of first-degree murder and arson.

Isaac Connery, 23, was arrested in Bernalillo County, New Mexico, June 26, according to a Wednesday, July 8, press release from the Grant County sheriff and district attorney.

Connery is accused of shooting Terry and Sharon Smith on July 17, 2018, and setting fire to their home on Nans Rock Road in the Laycock Creek area between Mt. Vernon and John Day, according to the release. A fire totally destroyed the home that evening, but Sheriff Glenn Palmer later discovered partial human remains, which were identified through DNA as belonging to Terry Smith, the release states.

Palmer also discovered other partial remains that could not be identified but have been accepted as belonging to Sharon Smith, according to the release.

Evidence was found, including witness testimony and suspect cellphone locations, that place Connery and his mother, Gabrielle Connery, 46, at the Smith home at the time of the fire, the release states. The Connerys had been associated with the Smiths, both in Hawaii and Oregon, prior to the incident.

The Smiths’ pickup was discovered abandoned in the Boise, Idaho, area after the fire, and follow-up interviews with witnesses indicated that Isaac Connery took the pickup the night of the fire, the release states. He was indicted June 23 for unlawful use of a motor vehicle, and a nationwide warrant was issued for his arrest.

Grant County Undersheriff Zach Mobley and Sgt. Danny Komning, along with FBI Special Agent Ben Jones, traveled to Albuquerque, New Mexico.

In an interview with Isaac Connery, Mobley learned that he and his mother had dropped off two Connery minor children at a local campground, likely Clyde Holliday State Park, on the afternoon or evening of July 17, 2018, and then Gabrielle Connery drove Isaac Connery to the Smith home and dropped him off, before returning alone to the campground to pick up the children, according to the release.

“Isaac Connery went to the Smith home and shot Terry, then Sharon Smith, and set fire to their home,” the release states. “Then Isaac Connery took their pickup and drove to meet Gabrielle Connery” in the Boise, Idaho, area.

The process to extradite Isaac Connery to Grant County has begun, and the matter will soon be presented to a grand jury for more formal charges, including contemplating charges against Gabrielle Connery for the role she played in the deaths of the Smiths, the release states.

“The Grant County Sheriff’s Office has worked for the past two years in solving this crime where we have taken the lead in this case, and our due diligence and hard work never ceased,” Palmer said in the release. “With what we have in a case like this, and as traumatic (as) it has been for the families of Terry and Sharon Smith, hopefully this will be a step toward understanding what took place the night of July 17, 2018.”

Palmer said in the release the sheriff’s office worked with Jones, arson and crime lab personnel from the Oregon State Police, the Oregon State Medical Examiner’s Office, the Oregon State Fire Marshal, Boise (Idaho) Police Department and various agencies in Arizona, New Mexico and Hawaii.