Jonathan Thomas Moore, a Bavon resident arrested in June and charged with first-degree murder in the deaths of his parents, Adam Thomas Moore and Melissa Dawn Moore, was found guilty by Judge Jeffrey Judge Shaw Wednesday after a plea deal was reached between the defendant and the Commonwealth.

Moore, who had also been charged with two additional felonies for stabbing in the commission of a felony, pleaded guilty to two amended charges after the initial charges were merged. The new charges are first-degree murder, a Class 2 felony, and stab in the commission of a felony, a Class 6 felony.

A sentencing hearing was scheduled for March 22, 2023.

Before accepting the plea, Shaw first asked Moore a series of questions to determine that he fully understood the charges, that he had discussed them with his attorneys, that he was making the plea freely and voluntarily, and that he was, in fact, guilty of the charges. Shaw also asked whether Moore understood that he was giving up his rights to plead innocent, to have a trial by jury, and to appeal his conviction. Finally, he asked if Moore understood the possible maximum sentence he could face, including life in prison for the murder charge and up to five years in prison for the stabbing offense.

Moore answered each question with a clear “Yes.”

Special Prosecutor T. Marie Walls then read a detailed synopsis of the events surrounding the murders. She said that deputies were called to the Moore home the morning of June 8 to do a welfare check on the couple because family members had not been able to reach them for two days. They were told by a family member that a vehicle was missing from the driveway.

Deputies were let into the house by the landlord, and when they looked inside, they saw blood near the door and laundry area. They walked in and smelled a foul odor that experience told them was the decomposition of human bodies, and they followed the blood trail through the house and back to the main bedroom, where they found two bodies, a male and a female, both lying face-down, with knife wounds to their backs and necks.

Inspector April Edwards was called to the scene, and she assessed that there were multiple significant stab wounds to both bodies. She also found several knives on the floor, some with chips broken off, as well as marijuana plants in the defendant’s bedroom and outdoors.

Piecing together the events that led up to the deaths, Walls said that Melissa Moore had told a friend that her son had been angry with her. The night of the murders, Walls said, Jonathan Moore and some friends had been outside the home drinking alcohol and smoking marijuana. During the gathering, Moore’s parents returned home and went in the house. The friends told investigators that Moore had told them to turn up the music, then said that he wanted to kill his parents for a $2 million life insurance policy and travel across the country. The friends left the home at around 11 p.m.

During the investigation, the sheriff’s office learned that Moore could be in Lynchburg. The Lynchburg police department was contacted, and Moore was located and arrested. Edwards and a second deputy drove to Lynchburg to take custody of Moore, and while there, he admitted to killing his parents, saying he had made a mistake and had blood on his hands.

“When I killed them, I felt relief,” Walls quoted Moore as saying. “Blood was all over me.”

Walls said that Moore had told deputies that he had knocked on his parents’ door “and just went crazy.” After the killings, he stole his parents’ truck and left because he “never wanted to see the place again.”

As Judge Shaw stated he found Moore guilty as charged, Moore held his head down, and his body shook with emotion. He was then led from the courtroom by a deputy.