The son of a former Twin Cities resident found slain last week in Zephyrhills, Fla., was charged in warrants Monday with two counts of first-degree murder.

Warrants were issued early Monday night for the arrest of 27-year-old Kyle Thomas, who is accused of killing his father, Craig Thomas, 54, and his live-in girlfriend, Irene “Rita” Martin, 45. The two were found dead in the master bathroom of the home they shared, police said.

Kyle Thomas was arrested late last week in Villa Rica, Ga., as he was speaking to a Zephyrhills police detective by telephone about the killings, investigators said. He was charged with violating probation and has been held at the Bartow County jail in Cartersville, Ga.

On Monday at 5:45 p.m., a judge issued a warrant charging Kyle Thomas with two counts of murder. The warrants are expected to be served later this week, Zephyrhills police said in a written statement.

A conviction for first-degree murder is punishable by death in Florida.

Police and judges will begin discussing details of extradition to Florida later this week, investigators said. It was not known Monday night whether Kyle Thomas, who police say had moved in with his father and Martin shortly before the slayings, would agree to return voluntarily to Florida.

Both victims had ties to the Lewiston-Auburn area and other parts of Maine, according to family members.

Craig Thomas met Martin while he was living and working in the Lewiston-Auburn area nearly a decade ago, Martin’s niece Lindy Williams of Lisbon said Sunday.

The couple moved to Zephyrhills in 1998.

Martin also had a sister, Margaret Martin, who lives in Otisfield. It was Margaret Martin who called Zephyrhills police last week asking that they look into Irene Martin’s well-being.

When police responded, they found the bodies of Martin and Thomas within a few feet of each other in the mobile home they had bought together on Lawanda Loop.

Zephyrhills Police Chief Russ Barnes said Monday that the coroner’s office hasn’t released autopsy findings on the couple. Without that information, Barnes said he couldn’t discuss the cause of their deaths.

Barnes also said the State’s Attorney’s Office, which will prosecute charges stemming from the slayings, has instructed him not to get into details of Kyle Thomas’ conversations with police.

Thomas had spoken at length by telephone with Zephyrhills police Detective Sgt. Jeff McDougal before being arrested by Georgia police. McDougal and other Florida police also interviewed Thomas at the Bartow County Jail in Cartersville, Ga., during the weekend, Barnes said.

Georgia authorities had been holding Thomas on a probation violation stemming from a marijuana-related offense. Barnes said the warrants charging Thomas with murder were issued before they would have been forced to release him on the probation violation.

Officials also recovered the missing 1979 gray Oldsmobile Toronado belonging to Kyle’s father, Barnes said. It was found in Georgia during the weekend and returned to Florida and impounded as part of the investigation.

Barnes said more than a dozen law enforcement agencies have assisted or are assisting in the continuing investigation into the homicides. Among those agencies are Maine State Police and Maine sheriff’s offices.