Joel Matthews pleaded guilty in New London Superior Court Friday to bludgeoning to death two New London residents in 2012 after a day of drinking at their Blinman Street home.

Matthews, 31, will be sentenced on Jan. 21 to 42 years in prison for two counts of murder.

Relatives of victims Noel Starback and Sherry Roush were in court to hear Matthews’ plea, but chose to reserve their comments until the sentencing hearing before Judge Hillary B. Strackbein.

Matthews, who has been incarcerated since shortly after the April 13, 2012, homicides, had earlier turned down an offer to plead guilty in exchange for a 50-year sentence. Plea bargaining continued as the case headed to trial. Prosecutor Lawrence J. Tytla said he reduced the offer to 42 years based on problems the state may have had proving its case. He said he would elaborate at sentencing, but that the victims’ families understand the evidentiary issues and concur with the plea deal.

Matthews, wearing an orange prison jumpsuit, stood between attorneys Kevin C. Barrs and M. Fred DiCaprio and answered a series of questions posed by the judge to ensure he understands his plea deal. He initially was charged with capital felony because two people had been killed and could have faced a sentence of life without the possibility of parole if convicted at trial. He also was accused of arson, a charge which will not be prosecuted as part of his plea deal.

The victims were discovered in their first-floor apartment at 36 Blinman St. when the New London fire and police departments responded to the fire. The apartment was fully involved when Starback was found in the kitchen area with significant head trauma that did not appear to have been caused by the fire. He was taken to Lawrence + Memorial Hospital, where he was pronounced dead. Roush was found in another room, deceased, and also had injuries not consistent with being killed by fire.

According to court documents and testimony in court, Matthews, who also lived in the building, confessed that after a day of drinking, he killed Starback and Roush with an aluminum baseball bat and returned later with his mother and set fire to the house to cover up the crime. In his confession, Matthews said he and his mother had been drinking with the couple. He said his mother had left to buy marijuana and he had gone to his apartment to listen to music. He said he heard Starback and Roush screaming about the music being too loud, and he got angry and confronted them.

He said he repeatedly struck Starback in the head until he died. He then took the bat to Roush, repeatedly striking her in the face. Matthews said he called his mother, Julie Vince, and met up with her in the area of Reed and Coit streets, and the two returned to Blinman street “so she could see what he had done.” He said he decided to set fire to the house but didn’t know how to do it, so Vince assisted him. He said they both set fire in different areas of the house and then walked to the bus station, where they caught a bus to Mohegan Sun.

He was arrested the next day at the Red Roof Inn, where he and his mother had spent the night.

The mother has not been charged.

k.florin@theday.com

Twitter: @KFLORIN