A 31-year-old man is facing several charges, including first-degree murder, in relation to the deaths of an elderly couple in their home on Friday.

Edmonton police say a man broke into a home and stole a knife on Friday morning. He then broke into the nearby Queen Mary Park home of Joao Nascimento, 93, and Maria Nascimento, 81, and allegedly killed them with the knife.

Edward Kyle Roberts, 31, has been charged with murder.

Roberts is also charged with two counts of break and enter, possession of a weapon, and breach of recognizance. The cause of death of the victims will be confirmed once autopsies are done on Tuesday, police say. If their deaths are deemed a homicide, they would be the 32nd and 33rd of the year for the city.

EPS spokesperson Scott Pattison said the couple lived a quiet life, they enjoyed gardening and stayed close to home.

"They were living the latter part of their lives out peacefully and in the downtown neighbourhood," Pattison said.

"It's just tragic that something like this would happen to them in their latter years."

He said that, while Roberts was known to police, the Nascimentos were not.

"Certainly this was the last thing that anybody would think would happen to this particular couple, it seems that they were just randomly targeted by this individual."

On Friday afternoon, police described the scene as "disturbing."

"It appears to be two unsuspecting people," Pattison said.

Joao Nascimento moved to Edmonton from mainland Portugal in his youth, according to long-time friend Tony Earring. The two met at a Portuegese church Nascimento attended almost daily.

Earring said his friend studied for priesthood but gave up his religious calling when he met Maria, his wife.

"I never heard they had a family or kids," Earring said. "Probably they lived a lonely life with no kids."

The couple operated a Portuguese grocery store until Joao Nascimento retired. He then worked as a driving instructor in Edmonton until his health started to fail about 10 years ago, Earring said.

"He was a nice man," he said. "He was always talking to people and he was good to people."