ISLE OF WIGHT—Isle of Wight County Commonwealth Attorney Wayne Farmer said Tuesday he will seek the death penalty for a Courtland man accused of murdering his father and stepmother on April 26.

“The decision to seek the death penalty was not made lightly, but having viewed all evidence in the matter and the nature of the offenses, I believe it’s appropriate,” Farmer said Tuesday.

He made the statement after a grand jury on Friday handed down three indictments of capital murder against Jay Joyner, 37, for allegedly killing Joe Joyner, 62, and his wife, Sandra, 58, at their Walters Highway home in Carrsville.

Friends of the victims have indicated that money was the motive for the killings.

Farmer expects that Joyner will ask for a jury trial. A date has not been scheduled.

Joyner is being held at Western Tidewater Regional Jail in Suffolk.