GUILTY KY - Ruthie 'Carolyn' New, 70, found slain at Somerset church, 24 Aug 2017

Ruthie Carolyn New's body was found in the activity center of the Denham Street Baptist Church in August. Dwight Mitchell Bell was found in Dandridge, Tennessee and arrested without incident on charges stemming from the theft of New's vehicle. An arrest warrant said he was at a Pilot Travel Center. The warrant said that further investigation showed that Bell was wanted in Henry County, Indiana on a strangulation charge as well.

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41-year-old Dwight Mitchell Bell was arrested in Dandrige, Tennessee, on charges stemming from the theft of Ruthie Carolyn New's car, which was found in Indianapolis.

New was found dead in a storage area at Denham Street Baptist Church in Somerset on Aug. 24

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Surveillance photos showed Bell was in Indiana the day after the murder. On Tuesday night, police in Dandridge, Tennessee, which is east of Knoxville, picked him up and arrested him.

The family says Bell had been seen around the church before looking for help.
"Just from what I have been told he started coming to the church, attended a few services, was a person in need, needed a place to stay," Jonathan New said.

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Bell, 41, is being sought for questioning by Somerset Police in the investigation into the murder and sexual assault last week of Carolyn New, 70. New was found dead in the activity center of Denham Street Baptist Church in a crime that has stunned the community.

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Chief William Hunt said in a press conference on Wednesday that Dwight Mitchell Bell confessed to the murder of New. No bond has been set.

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The man charged in the death of a woman in a church activity center appeared in court on Thursday morning, and prosecutors announced they would be seeking the death penalty in the case.

Bell’s attorney entered a not guilty plea on his behalf. The tentative start date for his trial is April 9th. The judge set a pre-trial conference date for November 6th.

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Dwight Mitchell Bell, 41, pleaded guilty to murder and first-degree robbery, according to Commonwealth’s Attorney Eddy Montgomery.

Bell’s plea deal calls for a recommendation that he serve life without parole — meaning he would spend the rest of his life in prison — for murdering Ruthie Carolyn New and 20 years for robbing her.

Circuit Judge David Tapp scheduled Bell to be sentenced on Thursday. Tapp could reject the recommended sentence, but it is rare for judges to do so.

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Dwight Mitchell Bell, 41, avoided a potential death sentence earlier this week when he pleaded guilty to murder and first-degree robbery in the killing of Ruthie Carolyn New.

Pulaski Circuit Judge David Tapp accepted the plea deal recommendation Thursday afternoon and sentenced Bell to life in prison with no possibility of parole.

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Family of New took Thursday’s sentencing of her killer as a chance to confront him for his crime.

“Dwight Bell chose to violently take the life of an innocent woman trying to help because that is what he wanted to do,” said Donna Meece, New’s sister.

“You took from all of us. You stole the innocence from this community,” said Judge Tapp.

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