Keith Gardner was indicted Monday on murder charges. (Family Photo)

By Tom Jackman
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, August 18, 1999; 1:00 p.m. EDT

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A lawyer for Keith J. Gardner, the Lorton man accused of fatally stabbing his parents and grandfather inside their home last May, said this morning that Gardner plans to plead guilty next month to three counts of first-degree murder.

Gardner, 39, did not speak during the brief arraignment in Fairfax County Circuit Court. He was indicted Monday on the charges of killing Jannis Gardner, 63; Jimmy Gardner, 64; and Elmer Gardner, 90, and has been in jail since his arrest in Pensacola, Fla., on June 1.

Commonwealth's Attorney Robert F. Horan Jr. asked Judge Jane M. Roush to set Gardner's next court date for Sept. 7, at which time he expected a plea to be entered. Public defender Richard C. Goemann confirmed that Gardner intends to enter guilty pleas at that time, and the hearing ended moments after it had begun.

Goemann declined to comment after the hearing, saying he preferred to wait until the pleas were actually entered. Horan also declined to comment.

The bodies of the Gardners were found in a fall-out shelter behind their home on May 11, but police believe they were killed at least 10 days earlier. Keith Gardner and his wife, Michelle Yi Gardner, 19, had been living with his family and were seen at the home as late as May 10.

After the bodies were found, Keith Gardner fled but was arrested three weeks later in Florida. His wife then disappeared and was later charged in Alexandria with carjacking. She turned herself in earlier this month and is now being held in the Alexandria jail without bond.