OnStar helps nab suspect in priest murder

WAVELAND, MS (WLOX) - Authorities say the auto tracking system OnStar led them to the convicted sex offender now under arrest for the murder of a priest in Waveland.

Jeremy Wayne Manieri, 31, of Waveland was arrested overnight in Polk County, Florida. That's south of Orlando. Police say Manieri was driving the victim's SUV which was equipped with OnStar and used the GPS feature on the device to locate the vehicle at a hotel.

Father Edward Everitt, 70, of Holy Ghost Catholic Church in Hammond, Louisiana was sound shot to death Monday afternoon at a home on South Beach Boulevard in Waveland.

At a news conference Tuesday morning, Waveland Police Chief Jimmy Varnell told WLOX News it appears robbery was the motive for the shooting. Varnell said the priests wallet was missing from the home.

Police say Manieri, a convicted sex offender, was also wanted on a warrant out of Escambia County, Florida for grand larceny.

According to the State of Mississippi's Sex Offender website, Manieri was convicted in 2006 of "Touching of a child or a mentally defective, incapacitated or physically helpless person for lustful purposes."

Waveland police say Manieri worked as the maintenance man at the house, which was a weekend retreat for priests owned by the Dominican Order.

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