Police: Suspect in La. priest's death confessed

BAY ST. LOUIS, Miss. – A Mississippi police investigator has testified Jeremy Wayne Manieri confessed that he shot a Louisiana priest when he awoke after passing out and found the priest fondling him.

The testimony came during a probation violation hearing Wednesday where Hancock County Circuit Judge John Gargiulo sentenced Manieri, a convicted sex offender, to five years for not reporting to his probation officer and committing a crime.

Manieri has been held in the Marion County jail on $2 million bond after being charged in the slaying of the Rev. Edward Everitt, a Hammond, La., Catholic priest.

Waveland, Miss. police investigator Eddie Peterson testified Manieri gave authorities a recorded statement after his arrest in Florida on July 12.

An attorney for Manieri said he was disappointed that prosecutors elicited such detailed "salacious" testimony during a simple probation violation hearing.