The U.S. Army has filed murder charges against four soldiers in the shooting deaths of an ex-soldier who had been part of their brigade and his girlfriend.

An Army spokesperson released a statement yesterday that said the GIs, who are based in Fort Stewart in Georgia, have been charged with premeditated murder and other crimes under military law.

The law states right now that soldiers convicted of premeditated murder by a court-martial can be sentenced to death or life in prison. The four suspects right now are already facing charges in civilian court.

The new charges come nearly four months after fishermen found the bodies of Michael Roark, 19, and Tiffany York, 17.

Both victims were shot in the head before they were discovered in December not far from Fort Stewart, GA where Roark had served in the Army until being discharged just three days before he was murdered.

One week after the killings, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation announced it had arrested four soldiers .

Sergeant Anthony Peden, 25, and Private Christopher Salmon, 25, both face charges of malice murder.  The two other solders who were arrested are: Private First Class Michael Burnett, 26, and Private Isaac Aguigui, 19, are charged with being party to a murder.

Asked if he had decided whether to seek the death penalty, District Attorney Tom Durden said he has yet to decide, but that ‘all options are still viable’.

Neither military nor civilian authorities have released a motive for the killings, or provided many details on what happened. Preliminary hearings for the four soldiers in state court were postponed early in March.

The relationship between the victims and suspects remains unknown.