2 nuns fatally stabbed in Mississippi; funeral plans released

12:15 a.m. update

A Kosciusko man has been charged with two counts of capital murder in the deaths of two nuns in Holmes County.

Authorities said late Friday night that Rodney Earl Sanders, 46, was developed as a suspect after "an exhaustive interview Friday evening."

More at following link.

SATURDAY UPDATE: Man charged with capital murder in nun slayings

3:45 p.m. update

Services have been scheduled for two nuns who were killed in Mississippi.

The Catholic Diocese of Jackson says a wake will be held Sunday for Sister Margaret Held and Sister Paula Merrill, both 68, at St. Thomas Church in Lexington. A memorial Mass is scheduled Monday at the Cathedral of Saint Peter the Apostle in Jackson.

The diocesan chancellor, Mary Woodward, says the memorial service will be "an opportunity for the diocesan community and friends to celebrate the lives of these two remarkable women."

FRIDAY UPDATE: Reward offered in slain nuns case

1:30 p.m. update

A minister in Mississippi says a memorial Mass will be held for two Catholic nuns were found slain inside their home.

Father Greg Plata said Friday that the nuns, Sister Paul Merrill and Sister Margaret Held, had led Bible study for years at St. Thomas Catholic Church. He says Held will be buried in Wisconsin and Merrill will be buried at her congregation's headquarters in Nazareth, Kentucky.

He says the sisters' work as nurses dignified the poor.

Authorities have not released a motive or cause of death, but Plata said police told him the sisters were stabbed.

Friday, noon update

People in the Mississippi community where two nuns were killed say they are having a hard time finding forgiveness, even though that's what the sisters would have wanted.

Joe Morgan Jr. says he was a patient of Sister Paula Merrill and last saw her about four months ago.

Morgan went to Lexington Medical Clinic where the sisters worked as nurses on Friday in hopes of talking to grieving staff members, but a handwritten sign in the front door says the clinic is closed until Monday.

Morgan says the nuns would've wanted him to forgive whoever killed them, but right now he doesn't have any forgiveness. Also slain was Sister Margaret Held. Both nuns were 68.

Authorities have not released a motive or cause of death, but the Rev. Greg Plata said police told him the sisters were stabbed.

Thursday, 8:45 p.m. update

Authorities say they've found a car missing from the home of the two nuns killed in Mississippi.

Warren Strain, spokesman for the Mississippi Department of Public Safety, says the blue Toyota Corolla was found abandoned on a secluded street barely a mile from where Sister Margaret Held and Sister Paula Merrill were found dead Thursday.

Strain says police found the car, apparently undamaged, about 6:45 p.m. Thursday. Strain says the car is being towed to a state crime lab near Jackson for analysis. He says police haven't determined when the vehicle was abandoned.

Police say the nuns were found dead Thursday morning in the community of Durant after failing to show up at a medical clinic in the region where they serve as nurse practitioners.

Original story:

Authorities are investigating the brutal killings of two nuns who were reportedly stabbed to death at their home in Holmes County.

Sister Paula Merrill, a nurse practitioner with the Sisters of Charity of Nazareth in Kentucky, and Sister Margaret Held, a nurse practitioner with the School Sisters of St. Francis in Milwaukee, helped treat thousands of patients a year at the Lexington Medical Clinic, regardless of their ability to pay.

“They were earthly angels with hearts of pure gold," said Rosalind McChriston-Williams, a nurse who worked with them at UMMC Holmes County.

The Rev. Greg Plata, who serves as priest at St. Thomas Catholic Church in Lexington, praised the pair. “These were the two sweetest sisters you could imagine. It’s so senseless.”

The clinic is expected to remain closed for several days before reopening to patients next week.

“They have touched lives all the way out to Kosciusko,” said Queen Armstrong, a registered nurse with UMMC Holmes County. “Every town, they have touched someone’s life.”

If people needed help, “they would go above and beyond, whether you needed medicine or to keep your lights on,” she said. “That’s how they cared for people. The community has lost two great ladies.”

Dr. Elias Abboud, who owns the clinic, called their deaths “a loss to the community. They were loved by everybody.”

Poor areas, such as Holmes County, “need people with compassion,” he said. “For them, it was a passion and a love for people, a love for the needy.”

The nuns raised funds to cover the costs for poor patients and the uninsured, he said. “They would treat them for free.”

The nurse practitioners “would really go the extra mile with patients,” he said. “They would get them free samples and call the drug companies to get them insulin.”

In addition, the nuns regularly distributed books, school supplies and many other items to the needy, according to church officials.

“These sisters have spent years of dedicated service here in Mississippi. They absolutely loved the people in their community,” said Bishop Joseph Kopacz of the Catholic Diocese of Jackson. “We mourn with the people of Lexington and Durant and we pray for the Sisters of Charity, the School Sisters of St. Francis and the families left behind.”

Both nuns lived together in a house in Durant on Castalian Springs Road, and that is where their bodies were found Thursday. Authorities suspect robbery may have been the motive.

Plata said their bodies were transported to the state Crime Lab, where pathologists are expected to conduct autopsies.

Durant police and the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation are investigating.

Warren Strain, a spokesman for MBI, said after the nuns failed to show up for work Thursday morning, a co-worker checked on them at 10:30 a.m., discovering their bodies and contacting police.

Maureen Smith, spokeswoman for the Catholic Diocese of Jackson, said the diocese has been told the sisters' car is missing.

McChriston-Williams, who lives across the street, said she is unaware of any previous burglaries in the neighborhood. "It's a nice quiet street to live on," she said.

A native of Massachusetts, Merrill moved in 1981 to Mississippi, where she had lived and worked since.

She referred to her patients as the “communion of saints” and liked to share the quote: “People don’t care how much you know, until they know how much you care.”

Sister Audrey Peterson, who worked with Held and Merrill in Mississippi, said the nurse practitioners rented the little house in Durant. “They were outdoor people,” she said. “They had a garden and grew things and shared with their neighbors.”

She praised them as “two very, very special, gentle ladies whose total commitment was being present to the poor. They were working with the absolute poorest of the poor.”

In an interview with the Sisters of Charity, Held talked about treating patients in Holmes County, where more than 40 percent live in poverty. “What really appalls me is 60 percent of the children live in poverty.”

That poverty has health consequences, including diabetes and high blood pressure, Merrill explained. “Many people can’t afford the (insurance) premiums. They make minimum wage.”

Many patients come to them from surrounding counties because “we are the only ones that will see them,” she said.

Those in the Catholic community knew the two nurse practitioners as sisters, but patients referred to them as “their doctors,” Armstrong said.

Her voice began to break. “They were loved by the community,” she said. “They were loved by me and my family.”

Raquel Rutledge of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Contact Jerry Mitchell at jmitchell@gannett.com or 601-961-7064. Follow him on Facebook and Twitter.