MANATEE COUNTY, Fla. (WFLA) – Manatee County deputies announced Thursday morning the man responsible for the death of Nicole Rose Scott 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 with 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.

“When he came in and started talking about details of the case that we have never released to the general public. We knew who he was and it started to make sense that he was there at the scene and had something to do with her being killed,” said Randy Warren, the spokesperson for the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office.

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.”

“It was killing him; it was eating him up, those were his words to us. It was time for him to get this off his chest and to tell the truth and he was ready to face the consequences which is what’s going to happen,” added Warren.

8 On Your Side spoke with Scott’s cousin, Michael Harrison who said “Nicole was a bright young girl who loved and adored her three children.” He added, “It does bring a closure that at least now somebody will pay for killing Nikki but it does not fill the void Nikki left in this world.”

Moulton is in the Manatee County Jail and has been charged with first-degree murder.

Scott was 29 at the time of her death.