The Great Smoky Mountain Journal

Staff, Wire Reports

Posted: Sunday, January 21, 2018 03:52 PM

Dandridge Man Confesses To Killing, Raping Somerset Woman At Kentucky Church

SOMERSET, KY - The man charged with killing a woman in her Kentucky church pleaded not guilty before a judge Friday morning.

Dwight Mitchell Bell was arrested in Dandridge on Wednesday. He was wanted for questioning in the death of Ruthie Carolyn New, 70, who was found dead on her church's property in Somerset.

Bell waived extradition and was transported back to Kentucky to face murder and robbery charges.

Somerset Police Chief William Hunt said on Wednesday that Bell had confessed to the murder and robbery of New.

Bell is lodged in the Pulaski County Detention Center.

New's body was found in the activity center of the Denham Street Baptist Church August 24. She was the church janitor and the pastor said she spent a lot of time on the property.

Police have released documents saying that shortly after the murder, Bell was caught on camera in a Lexington Rite Aid where he purchased Vienna sausages and chocolate milk.

Previous story Sept. 13, 2017

A man called a "person of interest" in the rape and murder of a Kentucky woman in her church was arrested in Tennessee.

Dwight Mitchell Bell was tracked down in Dandridge, according to a post on the Somerset Police Department's Facebook page on Tuesday.