Connecticut Pastors on the Moment Churchgoer William Winters Leverett Confessed to Cold Case Murder: 'He Told Us It Was Him'

A 27-year-old man who confessed a cold-case murder to his pastors seemed relieved to finally admit to the killing, they said.

Open Gate Ministries Pastors Colette and Michael Trazinski told Inside Edition about the shocking moment William Winters Leverett allegedly acknowledged his part in the death of Connecticut insurance executive Melissa Millan, 54, who was fatally stabbed while running four years ago.

"He said, 'Do you remember a woman was stabbed in November 2014?' ... And then he told us it was him," Colette said. 

While the pastors were stunned by his confession, they encouraged him to turn himself in.

"We said, 'You know what you have to do, right Will?'" Colette said. "He said, 'Yes, I know.'"

Last month, accompanied by three members of the church, Leverett walked into a police station and told officers he couldn't live with what he had done.

Video captured the moment he hugged his fellow churchgoers and then was led away by a police officer, his Bible and other devotional books in hand.

"He was relieved to be able to get it off his chest," said Colette.

Leverett, a convicted sex offender, was later charged with murder in Millan's death.

According to an arrest affidavit, Leverett told police that he was immediately attracted to Millan when he spotted her as she was jogging.

"I can’t have her," he told police he thought. "She’s way out of my league."

Angry, he "went into a frenzy," he said, and killed her.

Despite Leverett's confession, the Trazinskis said they still feel compassion for him. 

In 2009, Leverett was arrested for sexual assault of a child in Colorado and pleaded guilty in 2011, according to reports. He did not go to jail and was put on probation and the sex offender registry.

RELATED STORIES