Killing of 2 nuns leaves gaping hole in poor community

Maureen Smith, a spokeswoman for the Catholic Diocese of Jackson, said there were signs of a break-in at the home in Durant and the nuns’ vehicle was taken. The nuns were identified as Paula Merrill and Margaret Held. Held worked with the School Sisters of Saint Francis in Milwaukee, and Merrill worked with the Sisters of Charity of Nazareth in Kentucky.

“She was just such a wonderful human”, Rosemarie Merrill, Paula Merrill’s sister, told the Globe.

Police crime scene tape surrounds the residence of two Catholic nuns who worked as nurses and helped the poor in rural MS, and were found slain in their Durant, Miss., home on August 25, 2016.

Crime tape wrapped the home of the two Catholic nuns. Police have found evidence of a break-in. The women were found Thursday at the home they shared.

“We’re going to cover every inch of this property to make sure that we don’t miss anything and we provide as much as we can to the family”, said a MS officer.

Police also said they were going through “a lot of leads” and they were in the process of questioning families who the nuns helped.

Their stolen auto was found abandoned a mile from their home, and there were signs of a break-in, but police haven’t disclosed a motive or any leads, and no arrests have been made.

“It is extremely odd for a small town like Durant”, said the MS officer.

Authorities said it was not clear whether the women’s religious work had anything to do with their death.

Merrill’s sister Rosemarie said her sister had been in MS since 1981, helping the poor, and had worked in Holly Springs, where she used to ride around on a moped and was instrumental in locating the source of a tuberculosis outbreak.

The Sisters of Charity of Nazareth also confirmed their identities.

After Hurricane Katrina left much of the town without power for weeks in 2005, the sisters allowed people to come to their house to cook because they had a gas stove, neighbor Patricia Wyatt-Weatherly said. “Folks in Holmes County don’t realize the impact it will have without them being here”, Sample said.

The School Sisters of St. Francis here in Milwaukee, say a service will first be held for both nuns in MS before they’ll be brought to their respective homes. “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”.

Merrill, who Plata said he believes was 58, was a nurse practitioner in MS for more than 30 years and had been at the Lexington Medical Clinic since 2010. SCN describes itself as an global congregation “committed to work for justice in solidarity with oppressed peoples, especially the economically poor and women, and to care for the earth”.

LEXINGTON, Miss. (AP) – The two nuns who were killed in MS were by all accounts some of the most friendly, helpful people in town, cooking and caring for anyone in their poor community – making the slayings all the more puzzling.

In a statement, the leadership team of the US province of the School Sisters of St. Francis announced its shock and grief over hearing the news of the deaths.

“I came here because of a dream and a cause”, she said, “but I stayed because of the people”.

A profile of Merrill on the website said she focused on compassionate care. By the end of the call they decided they both have a little of Martha and a little of Mary inside them, Merrill said. “They make minimum wage”. “Holmes County, it’s one of the poorest in the state”, Dew said.

The Clarion-Ledger of Jackson reported that Dr. Elias Abboud, the clinic owner, said the sisters raised money to care for the poor.

“They would treat them for free”, he said.

The top church official in the area praised their years of helping others.

“These sisters have spent years of dedicated service here in Mississippi”. No arrests have been made yet, they said.