MS - Sr. Margaret Held & Sr. Paula Merrill, murdered, Durant, 25 Aug 2016 *Arrest*

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Miss Margaret's obit can be found at Washington county insider.com. Miss Paula's obit is at subfamily.org.

The WC paper website is all lower case letters and all together. The other website is all lower case, NOT sub but scn. Stupid spellcheck!
 
glf said:
Because he is career criminal and has no conscious. If he wanted to go back to jail that bad, you'd think he could think of something not so violent. I hope he gets his wish and he never sees anything but prison bars the rest of his life. Pond scum!
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I totally agree. He killed them because he wanted to. Maybe he didn't like religious people, white people, women, who knows. He killed them because he is evil.
MOO
 
http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/latest-hearing-set-man-charged-nuns-slaying-41720316

Ronald Earl Sanders of Kosciusko, Mississippi, faces two counts of capital murder and one count of burglary grand larceny.

Sanders' wife attended the brief hearing in Durant Municipal Court. She broke down in tears as she addressed relatives and associates of Sisters Margaret Held and Paula Merrill, whose bodies were found Thursday at their home in Durant.

"I'm sorry. I don't know what to say to y'all. I'm so sorry ... I'm so sorry. I can't take this. Oh my God," Marie Sanders said.
 
http://www.foxcarolina.com/story/32...-kosciusko-man-arrested-in-murder-of-two-nuns

DURANT, MS (Mississippi News Now) -A judge denied bond to Rodney Sanders, the man accused of killing two nuns in Durant
46-year-old Sanders has been charged with two counts of capital murder, grand larceny and burglary in connection with the killing of two nuns.
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Holmes County Sheriff Willie March said it is still unknown if the suspect targeted the nuns.
“He probably knew they were good decent people and would help people and that what lead them there or he was passing by and saw opportunity," said March. "We just don't know yet”
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I feel so sorry for his wife. I hope she is seriously considering divorce and relocation! Everybody knows she's not to blame, but staying in her present location will just cause her more pain. Some of her friends may abandon her simply because of her connection to the killer. It's not right but I'm afraid it will happen.
 
glf said:
I feel so sorry for his wife. I hope she is seriously considering divorce and relocation! Everybody knows she's not to blame, but staying in her present location will just cause her more pain. Some of her friends may abandon her simply because of her connection to the killer. It's not right but I'm afraid it will happen.
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Yeah I agree. It is so very sad... people do these heinous crimes, so many people are affected and hurt. Now his own family will suffer, don't know how many are in his family, but it spreads.. the hurt does. I don't know how to word it.
 
I think the death penalty would be a big consideration since the accused has given no reason for what he has done. His disregard for these two ladies was nothing, so he shouldn't be given any more compassion than what he had for them.
 
He lived across the street ?? I thought it was previously reported that he lived a few miles away. (15, IIRC)

"Rodney Earl Sanders, who lived across the street from the sisters, has been charged with capital murder in their deaths."

http://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/2016/08/31/sisters-plead-life-accused-nun-killer/89594334/


ETA: I clicked the highlighted link on the article above, which took me to a previous report with a little bit more detail.
But, why was he living in a metal shed? And, I assume his wife was not living in the shed with him.

"The man accused of stabbing and killing two nuns last week inside their Holmes County home lived in a little metal shed across the street.

Rodney Earl Sanders lived so close to the victims that he could stand in the driveway that led to the shed and look straight across the street at the expansive, well-kept yard in front of the nuns' home."


http://www.clarionledger.com/story/...ed-killing-nuns-lived-across-street/89581780/
 
Maybe he was hoping to find work there? I guess he could have gone there because he had relatives to stay with? It seems obvious that they weren't thrilled with him being there, since he wasn't staying in the house. I hope his wife will divorce him.
 
On paper, it looked as if Rodney Sanders was destined to kill someone one day. But his criminal history would have suggested he might have done so behind the wheel while drunk.

Sanders has been charged with capital murder in the slayings of Sister Paula Merrill and Sister Margaret Held in Durant last week. Authorities said the nuns had declined his offerto mow the grass at their home a few days before their deaths. It's unclear whether there had been any interaction between Sanders and the nuns before that encounter.

(...)

Sanders' criminal history shows he had been arrested nine times for drunken driving. Only one of those cases is still pending, and he's under indictment for the alleged crime now
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http://www.clarionledger.com/story/...killer-sanders-arrested-9-times-dui/89713102/
 
http://www.wapt.com/news/central-mi...o-honor-2-nuns-killed-in-mississippi/41505990
[h=1]Scholarship created to honor 2 nuns killed in Mississippi[/h][h=2]Money will be given to graduate nursing student[/h]
The Sister Margaret Held and Sister Paula Merrill Graduate Nursing Scholarship will be given to a graduate nursing student who works in an underserved area or does charitable work.
Held and Merrill were both graduates of MUW's nursing program. The university says Held earned a master's degree in 1994, and Merrill earned a bachelor's degree in 1988.
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No motive given yet, my guess is sexual assault (DNA not back yet). He was in court today, no bail.
From article:
Sanders told investigators that he went through the back door of the sisters' home, uninvited. Sanders said Merrill saw him first before a struggle took place with both women, Oliver testified.

Oliver also said Sanders told officers that after stabbing the women, "He washed himself up because his hands were sticky."

Rape kits are pending at the Crime Lab, Oliver said. Sanders has not been charged with rape, however.

http://www.lex18.com/story/33115453/man-accused-in-death-of-nuns-appears-in-court
 
September 16, 2016

Investigator: Suspect confessed to killing 2 nuns

1474069660815.jpg

Rodney Earl Sanders, 46, of Kosciusko, Mississippi


"He did acknowledge killing Paula Merrill and Margaret Held," Mississippi Bureau of Investigation agent LeCarus Oliver testified

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2016/09/16/investigator-suspect-confessed-to-killing-2-nuns.html
 
Such a senseless, disgusting crime. I hope he rots in prison.

Sent from my SM-G928T using Tapatalk
 
Nuns’ autopsy still pending
An autopsy report for two nuns killed five months ago in Durant has still not been completed.

The Mississippi medical examiner is still working on the report Mississippi Department of Public Safety spokesman Warren Strain told The Associated Press last week that the report could be finished in the next two or three weeks.

(...)

District Attorney Akillie Malone-Oliver said she is waiting for the information before presenting the case to a grand jury.
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If I recall the area was not well to do financially. Sorry for that wording but didn't know how else to say it. Maybe that's part of reasoning for this delay?

Sent from my VS810PP using Tapatalk
 
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