Sanders is accused of killing Sisters Paula Merrill and Margaret Held, whose bodies were found Thursday in their MS home.
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Authorities are offering a $30,000 reward for information after the pair were found dead in a home they shared. NBC News reported that when the nuns did not show up for work at the Lexington Medical Clinic, where they worked as nurse practitioners, dispensed insulin, gave flu shots, and provided other sorts of medical care for the poor, police found them dead at their home in the rural town of Durant, Mississippi.
Lt. Colonel Jimmy Jordan says “Sanders was developed as a person of interest early on in the investigation”.
Sanders is being held in a detention center while he awaits his first court appearance, police say. They have not given any details on why they think Sanders killed the women or whether he knew them but they do say they believe he acted alone.
People who knew the nuns, known for their generosity and commitment to improving health care for the poor, have been grappling with why anyone would want to kill them.
Merrill is to be buried Friday in Kentucky following services organized by her order, the Sisters of Charity of Nazareth, her nephew said.
Sister Margaret Held and Sister Paula Merril, originally from Wisconsin and MA, were found stabbed to death at home Thursday.
A wake for Merrill and Held is scheduled for Sunday evening at St. Thomas Church in Lexington, Miss., according to the Catholic Diocese of Jackson.
According to Mississippi Department of Corrections, Rodney Earl Sanders was released from prison last December after serving nine months for a felony conviction for driving under the influence.
Authorities in MS don’t anticipate any more arrests in the slayings of two nuns.
The sheriff said police work and tips from the community led police to Sanders.
People in the MS community where two nuns were killed say they are having a hard time finding forgiveness, even though that’s what the sisters would have wanted.
“We basically cried and told our stories about them and talked about how important they were to us”, he said.
Those who knew the two nuns described them as outgoing and compassionate.
The clinic and the nuns’ home in Durant are in Holmes County, population 18,000.
Plata said Saturday that he does not think people at the church knew 46-year-old Rodney Earl Sanders of Kosciusko, who has been charged with two counts of capital murder in the slayings of the nuns. “She always seemed happy and enjoyed the work she was doing”.
The two nuns were well-known in the community for dedicating their lives to providing health care for the poor and disenfranchised..
Held – impressionable and idealistic – was committed to ending racism and poverty, according to an interview she did earlier with her order’s magazine. He said her relatives in Stoneham are considering plans to hold a memorial service at a later date. A person who answered the Lexington Medical Clinic’s phone Friday said the clinic is closed until Monday because of the double slaying. “I came here because of a dream and a cause but I stayed here because of the people”, she said.
Nicgorski said the sisters’ deaths just don’t make sense. She said they would have given the suspect anything he needed.
Friends say two nuns who were found slain in their MS home “would do anything for anybody”.
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“The word “sister” has many meanings, and they fulfilled all of them”, he said. “As a mater fact, Paula know that I love to do flowers so she was going to plant me a flower so she was great”, reported Mississippi News Now.
