*The related video above is from 8 On Your Side’s coverage of Nicole Scott’s death in 2011.*
MANATEE COUNTY, Fla. (WFLA) – The family of Nicole Rose Scott can finally have some closure.
Manatee County deputies announced Thursday morning the man responsible for her death finally confessed to her homicide.
According to deputies, on Dec. 11, 2011, a man found Scott’s body in a wooded area north of University Parkway and called 911. When deputies arrived at the wooded area, they found that Scott’s body was partially clothed with “visible trauma to her face.”
According to the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office, Scott was strangled and likely dropped off in the remote area several days before her body was found.
During their investigation, deputies say detectives followed up on numerous leads and questioned Benjamin Moulton about his connection to Scott’s death, but he denied any involvement. Because detectives lacked enough evidence to connect Moulton to the homicide, he was not charged in her death.
On Wednesday, the sheriff’s office says Moulton walked into the Sheriff’s Office Operations Center and told deputies that he was responsible for Scott’s death.
Deputies say Moulton, now 43 years old, “met with detectives and explained that he killed her in a fit of rage and provided other details about the case that were never released to the public.”
He told detectives the reason for confessing was that he has “found Jehovah and couldn’t live with the guilt anymore.”
He has been charged with first-degree murder.
Scott was 29 at the time of her death.
