Two nuns stabbed to death in their home in Mississippi

Two Catholic nuns were found stabbed to death on Thursday (August 25) at their home in Durant, Mississippi, and officials told local media they are investigating the case as a robbery that escalated into murder.

The Sisters of Charity of Nazareth (SCN) confirmed the deaths of the two nuns, who worked at a medical clinic, and named them as Sister Paula Merrill, of the SCN in Kentucky, and Sister Margaret Held, with the School Sisters of St. Francis in Milwaukee.

Father Gregory Plata, a friend of the nuns, said that their sudden death was a shock.

“They were loved by everyone, here in Lexington and also in Durant. So that’s why this is such a shock to us. It’s such a senseless homicide,” he said.

A service was held for the nuns at a Catholic school in Wisconsin where one of the nuns taught, NBC reported.

Sisters Merrill and Held had not come into the clinic, about 60 miles (97 km) northeast of Jackson, on Thursday morning. Their bodies were found in a check of the house by a co-worker, police told local media. No arrests have been made yet, they said.