Nebraska priest and man accused of fatal stabbing had no connection, prosecutor says

The suspect in the stabbing death of a Catholic priest in eastern Nebraska had no connection to the priest or the small town where the stabbing occurred last week, prosecutors said during a court hearing Thursday.

Kierre Williams, 43, was ordered held without bond while he awaits trial on first-degree murder, burglary and two felony weapons counts in the Sunday killing of the Rev. Stephen Gutgsell in the rectory next door to St. John the Baptist Catholic Church in Fort Calhoun.

The 65-year-old priest called 911 before dawn Sunday to report that a man had broken into the rectory and was in his kitchen holding a knife. When a deputy arrived at the home minutes later, he said he found Gutgsell lying near the kitchen, bleeding profusely from stab wounds, with Williams lying on top of him. Gutgsell was rushed to a hospital in nearby Omaha, where he died of his wounds.