A Nebraska judge agreed Wednesday that the fact that the suspect was found lying on top of a badly wounded priest covered in blood stains last month inside the home where the priest lived next door to his small-town church suggests that Kierre Williams was responsible for the killing.
Washington County Judge Edward Matney ruled there was probable cause for the murder case against Williams, 43, to move forward. He will continue being held without bond until he is due back in court early next month to enter a plea to the murder and weapons charges he faces. His attorney has declined to discuss the case.
Prosecutors have said there doesn’t appear to be any connection between Williams and the Rev. Stephen Gutgsell, who was fatally stabbed on Dec. 10 inside the rectory for St. John the Baptist Catholic Church in tiny Fort Calhoun. The one-story home was still wrapped in crime scene tape Wednesday nearly a month after the attack.
Gutgsell’s brother thanked the Fort Calhoun congregation in a message in the church bulletin last weekend for joining with nearly 1,000 other mourners at the priest’s funeral last month. The Rev. Michael Gutgsell said he and his siblings will keep St. John the Baptist Church in their prayers.
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