State Attorney Bill Eddins announced Thursday a Santa Rosa County Grand Jury indicted Derrick Thompson for two counts of First Degree Murder in the deaths of Steven and Debra Zackowski. Thompson was previously indicted in Bay County for the killing of Allen Johnson. The State Attorney’s Office for the First Judicial Circuit intends to move forward now with the prosecution of this case. The Bay County case will also be prosecuted at the same time. On July 19, 2014, the Zackowski couple was found murdered in their home in Milton on Goliath Road. . Reports said a medical call was dispatched to their address Sunday morning for a cardiac arrest for both a male and female and said they were probably already deceased. SRSO said Thompson was already wanted in Santa Rosa County for burglary, grand theft and fraud as Zackowski filed an incident report Saturday morning, saying Thompson had taken items from his home including a key ring, cell phone and a bottle of oxycodine with 7 pills remaining. Reports said Zackowski explained a few days before he’d hired Thompson to work on a house he was building. Zackowski told deputies he’d heard of Thompson through a friend and made arrangements to meet at his home at 5:30 a.m., Saturday July 19. Reports said during the meeting Zackowski noticed his phone and keys were missing when he returned from the restroom, and Thompson had left the residence unexpectedly. He also saw Thompson exiting Zackowski’s vehicle, reports said. Deputies said he tried to have Thompson stop but to no avail. The investigation led to Thompson’s arrest. Thompson is scheduled for his arraignment regarding the Santa Rosa case on October 10, 2014. Both the investigation and arrest were conducted by the Santa Rosa County Sheriff’s Office. Assistant State Attorney Jeff Gaddy is prosecuting the case. For further information, please contact him at 595-4229.
This article originally appeared on Santa Rosa Press Gazette: Derrick Thompson indicted for two counts of murder