A 46-year-old man has been charged with two counts of capital murder over the deaths of two nuns in Mississippi on Thursday, officials have announced.
Rodney Earl Sanders was "developed as a person of interest early on in the investigation," said Lt. Colonel Jimmy Jordan, director of the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation (MBI), in a statement.
Sanders was charged following an "exhaustive interview," Jordan said, and the suspect acted alone.
"With the cooperation of the Durant and Kosciusko Police Departments, Holmes County Sheriff's Department and the Attorney General Office this heinous crime has been resolved."
Sister Paula Merrill, of the Sisters of Charity of Nazareth in Kentucky, and Sister Margaret Held of the School Sisters of St. Francis in Milwaukee, both 68, were found dead in their home on Thursday.
They were nurse practitioners and worked at the Lexington Medical clinic. A colleague found their bodies after going to check on them when they did not arrive at work on Thursday morning.
Officials at the time said they were investigating the case as a robbery that escalated into murder.
Rev Greg Plata, who leads the church attended by the two nuns, said they were "two of the sweetest, most gentle women you can imagine. Their vocation was helping the poor."
"People were attracted to them because of their goodness," he told the New York Times.
Though police did not release information on the nature of the deaths, Plata told reporters he had been told the nuns were stabbed.
Bishop of Jackson, Joseph Kopacz, said of Merrill and Held: "These sisters have spent years of dedicated service here in Mississippi. They absolutely loved the people in their community."
Sanders is being held ahead of his first court appearance.
