Rodney Early Sanders reportedly confessed to killing Sister Margaret Held and Sister Paula Merrill, who had been working at a medical clinic. The two nuns, from different orders, were found murdered in the Durant house they rented, on Thursday. Over 300 people attended the service.
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“Right now, I don’t see no forgiveness on my heart”, says Joe Morgan Jr., a 58-year-old former factory worker who has diabetes and was a patient of Merrill’s at the clinic where the two nuns worked.
DURANT, Miss. (AP) – A MS prosecutor said she hasn’t decided whether to seek the death penalty for a man charged with killing two nuns who dedicated their lives to helping people in one of the poorest counties in the nation. A man from about 15 miles away has confessed without giving a reason, according to the sheriff. Father Greg Plata, who ministers at the church where Sisters Held and Merrill led a Bible study, spoke at the nuns’ funeral, which hundreds attended. And more than 300 people came Sunday to St. Thomas Church to say farewell.
About 145 people filled the church to capacity, and there was an overflow crowd outside, where 160 folding chairs were set up and still people had to stand to watch on a monitor as Bishop Joseph Kopacz of the Jackson Diocese led the service. The front pews were filled by family members and sisters from Held’s and Merrill’s religious orders, the Kentucky-based Sisters of Charity of Nazareth and the School Sisters of St. Francis of Milwaukee. She broke down in tears afterward as she addressed relatives and associates of Sisters Margaret Held and Paula Merrill, whose bodies were found Thursday at their home in Durant. Jonell Payton, who lives across the street and a few doors down from the murder scene, said the nuns were “the most precious two people”.
Sanders was charged with two counts of capital murder, which under state law is a murder committed alongside another felony and is punishable by execution or life in prison. “Oh, my God”, Marie Sanders said, sobbing.
Durant police could not be reached for comment Saturday or Sunday.
Records from the Iowa Department of Corrections show Sanders was in prison from June 2004 to February 2011 on a conviction of second-degree robbery.
We’re also told Sanders was convicted of armed robbery and served six years in prison. Their work involved dispensing flu shots, insulin and other medical care for those who could not afford it in the poorest county in the poorest USA state. The clinic provided about 25 percent of all medical care in the county, said Dr. Elias Abboud, who oversees the clinic.
Plata said he does not think people at the church knew Sanders.
Sanders was arrested late Friday and charged with two counts of capital murder in the slayings of Sisters Margaret Held and Paula Merrill.
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Strain said he does not know if Sanders has an attorney.
