(AP) --

ANDERSON, S.C. - South Carolina authorities say they've arrested a man charged with killing two people more than a month ago and stuffing their bodies in barrels before dumping them into a lake.

Anderson County Sheriff's spokesman Chad McBride says John Michael Young was arrested early Saturday. A jail spokesman said Young was likely to make a first appearance before a judge later Saturday. He did not know if Young had an attorney.

Deputies charged Young with two counts of murder after collecting a chainsaw and machetes from his home near Lake Hartwell.

Authorities say Young killed 52-year-old Tony McGinnis in September and 37-year-old Andrea Mitchell in October by beating them in the head in woods near his home. Investigators didn't give a motive, but said the slayings weren't random.

(Copyright ©2012 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)