Man walks into sheriff’s office, confesses to 2011 murder

BRADENTON, Fla. (WWSB) - A man suspected of a 2011 murder walked into the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office Wednesday and confessed to the crime, deputies said.

Benjamin Moulton, 43, was arrested and has been charged with first-degree murder in the death of 29-year-old Nicole Rose Scott, whose partially clothed body was found Dec. 12, 2011, in a wooded area off the east end of University Parkway. An autopsy revealed she was strangled and dumped in that location for several days before she was found by a passerby.

“We were able to tell from the things he was telling us that he had knowledge of that scene,” said Randy Warren, Spokesperson for the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office. “Things that had not been put out to the general public,so we were able to immediately start building some charges against him.”

At the time, detectives followed up on numerous leads and questioned Moulton, who denied any involvement in her murder. Deputies lacked enough evidence to link him to the crime, the sheriff’s office said.

Over the past few years, detectives continued to search for new information but were unable to develop a clear suspect in the case.

On Wednesday, Moulton walked into the Sheriff’s Office Operations Center and told deputies he was responsible Scott’s murder. Moulton told investigators he killed her in a fit of rage and provided other details about the case that were never released to the public.

He also stated his reasons for confessing. He told detectives he had since “found Jehovah and couldn’t live with the guilt anymore.”

“To know that he was out there dealing with this guilt from what appears to be true remorse and he wanted to make things right, that’s extremely comforting for the family of Nicole Scott,” said Warren. “To know that this was eating him up and he wanted to do the right thing, it doesn’t always happen this way.”

The investigation continues.