Sarasota man confesses to killing a Sarasota woman in 2011 and dumping her body near Lakewood Ranch

Sarasota's Benjamin Moulton, a 43-year-old man who had been questioned at the time about the 2011 murder of Sarasota's Nicole Rose Scott, walked into the Manatee County Sheriff's Office Operations Center Wednesday and confessed to the murder.

The body of Scott, who was 29, was found Dec. 11, 2011 by a motorcyclist in a ditch near the intersection of University Parkway and Bourneside Boulevard near The Concession. When deputies responded, they found Scott partially clothed with visible trauma to her face. The death was ruled a homicide.

An autopsy determined Scott was strangled and likely dropped off in the then-remote area several days before her body was found.

At the time, Moulton denied involvement in the murder and detectives lacked enough evidence to link him to the crime. Detectives had continued since to search for new information in the case.

On Wednesday, Moulton told deputies he was responsible for the murder. A Sheriff's Office report said Moulton, who was living in Sarasota at the time, told deputies he killed her in a fit of rage along with providing details in the murder that never were released to the public. According to the report, Moulton told deputies he had "found Jehovah and couldn’t live with the guilt anymore.”

He was charged with first-degree murder.