A “guilty conscience” compelled a man to confess to a nearly 17-year-old drug-related double murder in Georgia, sheriff officials announced Thursday.

Andrew John Shadrix, 44, was arrested on two counts of malice murder on Wednesday after confessing to killing Shad Andrew English, 21, and Dennis Jeffrey Jackson, 19, whose bodies were found in the trunk of a burning car in September 2002 in Paulding County, Sheriff Gary Gulledge said.

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“This is a case where perseverance paid off and a guilty conscience got the best of the suspect,” Gulledge said in a statement announcing the arrest. “We are glad the Jackson and English families will now have closure knowing that their sons’ murdered is in custody.”

Homicide detectives in Atlanta initially worked the double slaying, but were unable to make any arrests after not generating investigative leads. Deputies from the FBI’s Gang Task Force and prosecutors in Paulding County then started probing the case early last year, Gulledge said.

Shadrix, who was already in state custody on unrelated charges, was being held at the Paulding County Jail for court proceedings when he confessed to the double slaying, sheriff officials said.

Additional charges against Shadrix — who is being held without bond — are likely. The slayings took place at a home in Douglasville that was destroyed by its owner years ago for reasons unrelated to the murders, Gulledge said.