Terror fears as cops investigate whether two Catholic nuns murdered in Mississippi were killed for their beliefs

POLICE investigating the death of two Catholic nuns believe they may have been killed because of their religion.

An assistant police chief said he had an "awful feeling" that Sister Margaret Held and Sister Paula Merrill were murdered as part of a religious hate crime.

The nuns, from Mississippi, USA, were found slain by a police officer on Thursday.

Both women were nurses and worked with the Lexington Medical Clinic, one of the largest and oldest medical group in Central and Eastern Kentucky since 1920.

According to the , Merill was a nurse with the Sisters of Charity of Nazareth in Kentucky, and Held, a nurse practitioner with the School Sisters of St. Francis in Milwaukee.

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It appears both the women were murdered but cops do not think the women were shot.

The Mississippi Department of Public Safety spokesman Warren Strain said it was thought they had both been killed, but he didn't reveal a motive and added at this stage it was not yet clear if their religious work and faith had anything to do with their deaths.

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Durant Assistant Police Chief James Lee said: "I have an awful feeling in the pit of my stomach."
Authorities also believe it could have been a robbery.

Father Greg Plata, who worked with the women gave a heartfelt tribute to the nuns, saying their deaths were a "senseless' tragedy."

He told the publication: "These were the two sweetest sisters you could imagine. It’s so senseless."

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Speaking on a video about their work before her death Merrill said: "I have been so edified by the faith. They (the patients) challnege me and inspire me, we make a difference in peoples lives and we never know what that difference is."
 Durant police and the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation are investigating.

Last month, a priest in Normandy was forced to his knees and had his throat slit by two Islamic State extremists.

Father Jacques Hamel, 85, was killed while holding morning mass as jihadis Abdel Kermiche and accomplice Abdel-Malik Petitjean, both 19, took hostages.

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