Sheriff: Man confesses in killings of 2 Mississippi nuns

Reporting from durant, miss. — A man suspected in the slayings of two nuns found dead in their Mississippi home confessed to the killings, a sheriff said Saturday, in the latest twist to a crime that has horrified people in the small communities where the women served.

Rodney Earl Sanders, 46, of Kosciusko, Miss., was arrested and charged in the deaths of Sister Margaret Held and Sister Paula Merrill, Mississippi Department of Public Safety spokesman Warren Strain said late Friday. Both women were 68.

Willie March, the sheriff of Holmes County where the killings occurred, said Saturday he had been briefed by police and Mississippi Bureau of Investigation officials who took part in Sanders’ interrogation.

Sanders confessed to the killings and gave no reason for the crimes, March said.

Rodney Earl Sanders in a smartphone photo.

(Mississippi Dept. of Public Safety / AP )

People who knew the nuns, known for their generosity and commitment to improving healthcare for the poor, have been grappling with why anyone would want to kill them.

The women’s bodies were discovered Thursday after they failed to show up for work in Lexington. The sheriff said they had been stabbed.

Merrill’s nephew, David Merrill, speaking by telephone from Stoneham, Mass., said Saturday the family was “thankful” Sanders is off the streets.

But the family still has to deal with the loss. Merrill said he agrees with the idea of forgiveness and that is something his aunt would want for whoever killed her but he’s not sure if he’s capable of completely forgiving.

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