A man charged with the killing of two nuns in Durant had his case sent before a grand jury after an initial hearing in the Durant Municipal Court last Friday.
Rodney Earl Sanders, 46, of Kosciusko confessed to investigators that he went into the home of Sisters Margaret Held and Paula Merill, both 68, struggled with them, stabbed them to death and stole their car, a state law enforcement agent testified during the hearing. The nuns’ bodies were found Aug. 25 after they failed to show up at the health clinic where they worked as nurse practitioners in one of the poorest counties in the nation. Sanders was arrested Aug. 26.
Mississippi Bureau of Investigation agent LeCarus Oliver testified Friday that Sanders had been staying in a shed across the street from the sisters' home for three days before the slayings. He testified that he was not in the room when Sanders confessed, but Sanders' questioning by other investigators was captured on an audio recording.
"He did acknowledge killing Paula Merrill and Margaret Held," Oliver stated.
Sanders allegedly told investigators that he went through the back door of the sisters’ home. He said Merrill saw him first before a struggle took place with both women, Oliver testified.
Oliver testified that a knife was recovered from the shed where Sanders had been staying, and it is being tested at the state crime lab. He also testified that the nuns' partially clothed bodies were found in the hallway of the home. He dated the crime to late Aug. 24 or early Aug. 25. He also stated that rape kits were pending at the crime lab.
Durant Municipal Court Judge Jim Arnold denied a request for bond from one of Sanders’ defense attorneys, Richard Carter III of Kosciusko. He also ruled that there is enough evidence against Sanders to send the case to a grand jury to consider indictment.
Sanders is being held on two counts of capital murder, one count of burglary and one count of grand larceny. Capital murder is punishable by lethal injection or life in prison.
Funerals for both Merrill and Held were held Sept. 2. Merrill was buried in Kentucky, where she belonged to the Sisters of Charity of Nazareth. Held was buried in Wisconsin, where she was a member of the School Sisters of St. Francis in Milwaukee.
