A man arrested for the murder of two nuns in MS has come clean and confessed to the killings, a sheriff said.
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Friends and colleagues who knew two nuns killed in their MS home are gathering to remember them.
Staff at the clinic where the nuns worked as nurse practitioners say Sanders was not a patient there and did not attend the small church where the nuns led bible study for years.
Police crime scene tape surrounds the residence of two Catholic nuns who worked as nurses and helped the poor in rural MS, and were found slain in their Durant, Miss., home on August 25, 2016. A suspect, Rodney Earl Sanders, was arrested late Friday.
Sheriff Willie March of Holmes County, where the killings occurred, said Saturday that he had been briefed by police from the town where the women were found slain and by Mississippi Bureau of Investigation officials who took part in Sanders’ interrogation.
Sanders was convicted of a felony DUI in Attala County and sentenced on February 23, 2015.
In 1986 he served six years in prison for an armed robbery in MS, and last year he was convicted of a felony DUI. Sister Paula Merrill and Held, two nuns who worked as nurses and helped the poor in rural MS, .
Rodney Earl Sanders, 46, of Kosciusko (cause-ee-EH-sko), MS faces capital murder charges in their deaths.
“Sanders was developed as a person of interest early on in the investigation”, said Lt Colonel Jimmy Jordan in a statement.
The bodies of Held and Merrill were found Thursday in their home in Durant, Mississippi.
Mississippi Department of Public Safety spokesman Warren Strain said investigators believed Sanders acted alone.
People from all over are celebrating the work and legacy left behind by sisters Paula Merrill and Margaret Held.
Still, the family has to deal with the loss.
The nuns’ bodies were discovered by a Durant police officer performing a wellness check after they didn’t show up for work in the morning, Assistant Police Chief James Lee said.
Sanders was in custody, awaiting his initial court appearance, the safety department said.
David Merrill, whose aunt Paula Merrill was found dead Thursday along with Margaret Held in their home in Durant, told The AP he agrees with the idea of forgiveness, but he’s not sure if he’s “capable of completely forgiving”.
The order of one of the nuns killed in MS has issued a statement that thanks the law enforcement officers who are working on the case.
Both women worked at the clinic, where they gave flu shots, dispensed insulin and provided other medical care for children and adults who couldn’t afford it.
The clinic provided about 25 percent of all medical care in the county, Abboud said.
The clinic and the nuns’ home in Durant are in Holmes County, population 18,000.
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Strain said further details aren’t being released because there is still evidence being processed. Articles featured include reporting on world news, politics, finance, health, entertainment and technology.
