Man arrested in murder of La. priest was on his way to visit Disney, cops say

(CBS/WTSP) Winter Haven, Fla. - Detectives in central Florida have arrested a murder suspect from Mississippi who's accused of shooting a priest in the head Sunday, while he was also apparently making plans to take his kids to Disney World, reports CBS affiliate WTSP.

31-year-old Jeremy Wayne Manieri was arrested early Tuesday morning in the killing of Edward Everitt, a 70-year-old priest from Hammond, La., says WTSP. Manieri was wanted by authorities in Waveland, Miss.

Polk County deputies said they found Manieri at a Days Inn Hotel located on U.S. Highway 27 in Clermont, Fla.

Manieri worked as the maintenance man at the Dominican Retreat House in Waveland, where the body of Father Everitt was found around Monday afternoon by a caretaker at the house, according to police.

He allegedly killed Father Everitt with the priest's own .380 caliber semi-automatic pistol, WTSP reported.

Sheriff Grady Judd in Polk County says Manieri and the priest had known each other for about two weeks, because Father Everitt was talking to Manieri about doing some type of construction work for him. Sheriff Judd says the two attended morning Mass together on Sunday and went to lunch together.

Later that evening, they got into some type of disagreement and that's when the priest was shot twice, the station reported.

Father Everitt was a priest at the Holy Ghost Catholic Church in Hammond, La. and Our Lady of Pompeii Catholic Church in Tickfaw.

Judd says they believed Manieri was armed and dangerous and so SWAT team members surrounded the Days Inn hotel,and just when they were going to go in after him, he walked out of the hotel room. No one was hurt during the arrest.

He wasn't alone, though. According to the sheriff, Manieri brought his ex-wife, her 10-year-old son and the couple's 5-year-old daughter along.

Judd says, "The suspect told his ex-wife he was working on an oil rig and when he got paid, they were going to come to Florida and take the kids to Disney."

He says Manieri had even purchased 3-day passes for the theme park.

Judd says they recovered the priest's car with the gun inside of it. Inside the hotel room, he says they found Father Everitt's wallet with all of the identification removed, except for one business card belonging to Father Everitt and some cash.

The sheriff adds, "Quite frankly, he left a trail of evidence that a blind man could have followed."

Manieri is charged with murder.