Authorities remain tight-lipped, but they announced Friday that an arrest has been made in the August 2008 slayings of two prominent Effingham County businessmen.

Effingham Sheriff Jimmy McDuffie said Craig Heidt, 41, of Springfield, was taken into custody Friday morning and is being charged with the shooting deaths of his father Philip Heidt and his brother Carey Heidt. Sheriff’s deputies and GBI agents arrested Craig Heidt around 8:45 Friday morning.

“This has been a long-awaited day,” McDuffie said.

Flanked by several Effingham County Sheriff’s investigators and a host of Georgia Bureau of Investigation agents at a brief news conference Friday, McDuffie released few details on the investigation and arrest of Craig Heidt. Craig Heidt is being charged with two counts of murder and one count of aggravated battery. Linda Heidt, Philip’s wife and the mother of Carey and Craig, was badly wounded in the shooting that took place at Philip Heidt’s home in the early morning hours of August 25.

Craig Heidt is being held in the Effingham County Jail. The sheriff’s department and the GBI are continuing the investigation, ECSO spokesman Detective David Ehsanipoor said.

“Due to the nature of this investigation, we are not going to answer (a lot) of questions this morning,” McDuffie said. “We just have to change gears now. Now comes the judicial process.”

For more on the arrests in the killings of Phillip and Carey Heidt, return to www.effinghamherald.net.