Police: Man confesses to Somerset murder
SOMERSET, Ky. (WTVQ) – Somerset Police say 41-year old Dwight Bell confessed to the robbery and murder of a woman who was found dead in a church last month. He’s in jail in Pulaski County without bond following his arrest Tuesday in Dandridge, Tennessee.
Investigators say Bell was charged Wednesday with murder and robbery in connection to the death of 70-year old Ruthie Carolyn New.
She was found murdered in the activity center of the Denham Street Baptist Church in Somerset August 24, 2017. Her late husband founded the church, where she was a fixture.
Police say surveillance photos showed Bell in Indianapolis, Indiana, the day after New’s murder. Investigators say New’s stolen car was found in Indianapolis.
According to Indianapolis Police, there was also an arrest warrant out for Bell in a separate strangulation case in New Castle, Indiana.
Court records show in 1999, Bell pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of manslaughter in the shooting death of his father, 49-year old Roger Bell. Dwight Bell, who was 22-years old at the time, served seven years of a 15-year prison sentence, according to court records.
He was paroled in 2005, but went back to prison in April 2008 for violating the terms of his parole. He was released in October 2012, according to court records.
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