A Catholic church spokesman says an arrest in connection with the slaying of a nun on the Navajo reservation should help people sleep better. But federal authorities remain tightlipped on its significance.

The FBI said agents arrested one person in the reservation community of Navajo after Thursday as part of their probe into the killing of 64-year-old Sister Marguerite Bartz. Her body was discovered after she didn't show up for Sunday Mass.

News of an arrest resulted in some relief for the community in northwestern New Mexico, said Lee Lamb, a spokesman for the Diocese of Gallup, which oversees the St. Berard parish in Navajo where Bartz lived.

"I'm sure that community hasn't been sleeping well for many nights. I think with this arrest they're going to have a better night's sleep tonight and feel a little safer in their homes," Lamb said.

Lamb said with the arrest, the community as well as the Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament _ the order to which Bartz belonged _ can focus on the nun's funeral, the grieving process and the celebration of her life.

Parishioners said Bartz served Navajo and the surrounding communities for a decade and had success converting people through her work.

FBI spokesman Darrin Jones would not say why federal investigators were not releasing any information about the arrest, and Samson Cowboy, the head of the Navajo Nation's public safety department, also declined to comment, saying only: "It's a very sensitive issue."

The FBI did confirm that the person arrested Thursday morning would remain in custody for the night.

Investigators also remained tightlipped about details of the crime, but said preliminary autopsy results show Bartz sustained substantial trauma, likely as a result of a violent confrontation with her killer or killers. Continued...