MAN PLEADS GUILTY IN KILLING OF TWO NUNS

LEXINGTON, MISS. A Mississippi man admitted Thursday he killed two Roman Catholic nuns, pleading guilty to murder in an agreement that avoided the death penalty, which was opposed by the women’s families and their religious orders.

Rodney Earl Sanders made the pleas to two counts of murder in state court in Lexington, blocks away from where Sisters Margaret Held and Paula Merrill had worked as nurse practitioners in a medical clinic.

Holmes County Circuit Judge Jannie Lewis gave the 48-year-old Sanders two lifewithout-parole sentences, plus 30 more years for burglary and car theft.