Killing spree suspect appears in court

EDWARSDVILLE, Ill., July 2 (UPI) -- A man suspected of killing eight people in Illinois and Missouri appeared briefly in court by closed-circuit television Wednesday.

Nicholas Troy Sheley, of Sterling, Ill. -- who was arrested Tuesday in Granite City, Ill. -- told a judge he could not post the $1 million bail set for five criminal charges against him in connection with the slaying of Ronald Randall, 65, of Galesburg, Ill., the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported Wednesday.

Sheley, 28, was wanted for a home invasion in mid-June when he allegedly began his killing spree last week. The first victim, a 93-year-old man, was found dead in the trunk of Sheley's car in Sterling, police said.

Sheley is also suspected of killing two men, a woman and a child found in a Rock Falls, Ill., apartment, about 115 miles west of Chicago. Two more victims, Jill and Tom Estes of Sherwood, Ark., allegedly were killed outside a motel in Festus, Mo., and dumped behind a nearby gas station, and Sheley allegedly killed another man in Galesburg, Ill.