A judge in Nebraska ruled Wednesday that the suspect was found lying on top of a seriously injured priest covered in blood stains last month inside the priest's home, which lived next door to a church in a small town. agreed that it suggested Kier Williams was involved in the incident. Killing.
Washington County Judge Edward Matney ruled there was probable cause to proceed with the murder case against Williams, 43. He will remain held without bail until he returns to court to plead guilty to murder and weapons charges early next month. His lawyer declined to discuss the matter.
Prosecutors said there appears to be no connection between Mr. Williams and the Rev. Stephen Guttgsell, who was stabbed to death on Dec. 10 inside the parsonage of St. John the Baptist Catholic Church in tiny Fort Calhoun. Ta. Crime scene tape was still wrapped around the one-story home on Wednesday, nearly a month after the attack.
Attention to Nebraska priest murder, unsolved murder of Wisconsin priest
The priest's death came just four months after another random home invasion murder in the town of 1,100 people, 8 miles north of Omaha, that shook residents' confidence in their safety.
Washington County Chief Deputy Prosecutor Eric Petersen on Wednesday summarized key evidence against Williams that was largely outlined in court documents last month. Sheriff's Deputy Brady Tucker described what he saw Sunday morning after rushing to Priest's home minutes after he reported an intruder, and detectives detailed what they found in their initial investigation.
This booking photo released by the Washington County (Nebraska) Sheriff's Office shows Kierle L. Williams on Sunday, December 10, 2023. Williams was arrested in connection with the attack and stabbing of a Catholic priest in a small Nebraska community in his church parsonage. said the authorities. (Washington County Sheriff's Office, via Associated Press)
Tucker testified that he found Williams lying on the gutsell with his face covered in blood. Williams complied with the priest's orders to get off his hands and was immediately taken into custody.
Williams was unarmed at the time of his arrest, but investigators later found a broken knife with a serrated blade in the middle of a blood stain on Gutgsell's bedroom floor.
Williams gave evidence of the attack when he was questioned at the jail hours after the 65-year-old priest died at an Omaha hospital. An autopsy determined that he died from multiple stab wounds.
“He was wearing winter clothing, including ski pants, a coat and tennis shoes,” Detective Greg Cornes said. “There was blood on the outside of his pants, shoes, and shirt. There was blood on the bottom of his shoes, and there was blood splattered on his shoes.”
Murdered Nebraska priest had no connection to murder suspect
Prosecutors have not yet decided whether to seek the death penalty in this case.
Williams has an extensive criminal history and has been convicted of several felonies in other states. But at the time of his murder, he was working at a meat packing plant in Sioux City, Iowa. It is unknown why he came to Fort Calhoun.
The Archdiocese of Omaha said the church where Mr. Gutsell served at Fort Calhoun will now have to share priests with two other churches in the nearby small towns of Brea and Tekama. Daily Mass is held during the week he alternates between three churches.
It was not immediately clear whether St. John the Baptist would continue to use the parsonage where Gatgusell was attacked again. The priests assigned to the three small churches are based in Brea.
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In a message published in the church newsletter over the weekend, Gutgsell's brother thanked the Fort Calhoun congregation who attended the priest's funeral last month, along with nearly 1,000 other mourners. Pastor Michael Gutgsell said he and his brothers will continue to pray for St. John the Baptist Church.
