Associated Press - November 4, 2009 7:25 PM ET

NAVAJO, N.M. (AP) - Sister Marguerite Bartz had worried just weeks ago about crime in the community after someone broke into the St. Berard Mission Church and stole bingo money.

Then she herself fell victim to a horrible crime.

The beloved nun was murdered in her residence on church property near the New Mexico-Arizona border, a killing that has rattled this impoverished town on the Navajo Indian Reservation and left parishioners in mourning.

Parishioners sobbed and hugged in the church parking lot as Bartz's roommate, who would only identify herself as Sister Magdalena, returned Wednesday to the residence they shared.

The FBI said Wednesday that a quick arrest is not likely but investigators received preliminary autopsy results that showed Bartz "sustained a substantial amount of trauma, likely as a result of a violent confrontation" with her killer or killers.

Jones said agents are withholding the specific cause of death while the investigation continues. However, he said there was no evidence to suggest Bartz was sexually assaulted or that she was targeted because she was a nun or for religious reasons.

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