Police Arrest Mississippi Man Over Stabbing Death Of 2 Nuns

(Reuters) - A Mississippi man has been arrested in the stabbing death of two Catholic nuns at their home earlier this week, police said on Friday.

Rodney Earl Sanders, 46, faces two counts of capital murder in the death of two nuns in Durant, the Mississippi Department of Public Safety said in a statement.

“Sanders was developed as a person of interest early on in the investigation,” Mississippi Bureau of Investigation Director Jimmy Jordan said.

Sister Paula Merrill and Sister Margaret Held were found stabbed to death by a co-worker on Thursday when they did not come into the clinic where they worked, police told local media.

Sanders was in custody, awaiting his initial court appearance, the safety department said.

(Reporting by Brendan O’Brien in Milwaukee; Editing by Stephen Coates)