Suspect in custody for the fatal stabbings of two Mississippi nuns

Luther Vandross was outed as gay after his death.

DURANT, Miss. (AP) — Authorities say they have charged a 46-year-old man in connection with the deaths of two nuns who were killed in Mississippi.

Mississippi Department of Public Safety spokesman Warren Strain said in a statement Friday night that Rodney Earl Sanders of Kosciusko has been charged with two counts of capital murder in the deaths of Sister Margaret Held and Sister Paula Merrill, both 68.

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Their bodies were discovered Thursday after they failed to show up for work at a clinic in Lexington, Mississippi, about 10 miles from where they lived.

Lt. Colonel Jimmy Jordan says “Sanders was developed as a person of interest early on in the investigation.”

Sanders is being held in an undisclosed detention center awaiting his initial court appearance.

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