A Decade Later, Man Confesses To Strangling Woman, ‘Couldn’t Live With The Guilt’: Sheriff

MANATEE COUNTY, FL — A decade after a 30-year-old woman was strangled to death in Manatee County, a suspect in the case confessed to killing her, the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office said in a news release.

On Dec. 11, 2011, Nicole Brown’s partially clothed body was found in a wooded area off University Boulevard, near Bourneside Boulevard.

An autopsy determined that she was strangled and dropped off in the remote area several days before her body was found, the sheriff’s office said.

Detectives followed numerous leads during their investigation, questioning Benjamin Moulton about his connection to Brown. He denied any involvement in her murder and there wasn’t enough evidence to link him to the crime, MCSO said.

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

Moulton, now 43, went to the MCSO operations center Wednesday to confess, telling detectives that he was responsible for Brown’s murder. He said he killed her in a fit of rage and provided details about the case that were never released to the public, the sheriff’s office said.

He told detectives he was confessing because he “found Jehovah and couldn’t live with the guilt anymore.”

Moulton has been charged with first-degree murder.