Jul 3, 2008 1:27 pm US/Central
Sheley Was Captured After Call To Own Lawyer
He Is Charged With Killing 2, Suspected In Murders Of 6 More
STERLING, Ill. (AP) ―
As the manhunt for the ex-con suspected of bludgeoning eight people to death wound down, a disheveled Nicholas T. Sheley walked calmly into a Subway restaurant in Granite City, asked to use the phone and called his lawyer -- all but ensuring his capture.
But first he bummed a light and had a cigarette with a restaurant employee, inquiring about clubs in town. The employee pointed him to Bindy's bar, where authorities converged and arrested Sheley minutes later.
The Tuesday night phone call from Subway was the last of multiple conversations Sheley had with the attorney, who was under the direction of the FBI, a person close to the investigation told The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity because the investigation is ongoing.
The contact was set in motion when Sheley called a family member earlier that day and said he wanted to talk to his lawyer, the person said.
The phone calls are among details that emerged Thursday about the 28-year-old's last moments of freedom as he was transferred from Madison County, where he had been held since his arrest, to Knox County Jail. There he awaited a court appearance on charges in the beating death of Ronald Randall, whose body authorities allege Sheley dumped behind a northwestern Illinois grocery store in the midst of the killing spree.
A day earlier in Madison County, a judge had read Sheley the first-degree murder, aggravated battery and vehicular hijacking charges that accuse him of the 65-year-old's beating death. Randall's body was found Monday behind the Galesburg store.
Sheley said he understood the charges and could not afford the $100,000 necessary to post his $1 million bail.
Authorities believe Sheley killed seven other people in the past week.
Prosecutors in western Illinois have issued a warrant for Sheley's arrest for the murder of 93-year-old Russell Reed. The body of Reed, the first of the eight killed, was found one week ago in the trunk of a car, police say.
Investigators say Sheley has been named a suspect in the slayings of six others. He has not been charged in those deaths, but authorities say evidence links him to each crime scene.
The remains of two men, a woman and 2-year-old child were discovered Monday in an apartment in Rock Falls and an Arkansas couple's bodies were found Monday behind a gas station in a Missouri suburb of St. Louis.
Sheley was acquainted with the male victims from Rock Falls, which is just across the Rock River from his hometown, said Illinois State Police Region Two Commander Mark Maton.
(© 2008 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
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