Suspected serial killer had eluded justice

Published: July 3, 2008 at 10:25 AM
Order reprints
Nicholas T. Sheley, shown in this Granite City Police Department handout was arrested in Granite City, Illinois on July 1, 2008. Authorities from two states searched for Sheley, who is suspected in eight murders. He was arrested July 1 near a bar in Granite City, Illinois about 10 miles north of St. Louis.   (UPI Photo/Handout)
Nicholas T. Sheley, shown in this Granite City Police Department handout was arrested in Granite City, Illinois on July 1, 2008. Authorities from two states searched for Sheley, who is suspected in eight murders. He was arrested July 1 near a bar in Granite City, Illinois about 10 miles north of St. Louis. (UPI Photo/Handout) | Enlarge Enlarge
CHICAGO, July 3 (UPI) -- A man accused of killing eight people in Illinois and Missouri managed to avoid imprisonment on two earlier occasions, court records indicate.

The Chicago Tribune said Thursday prior to being apprehended this week, suspected serial killer Nicholas Sheley had been allowed to go free after facing jail time on two previous occasions.

The Sterling, Ill., man went free in 2006 after a key witness in an armed robbery and home invasion case refused to testify against him.

Sheley defense attorney James Mertes said his client was also released while facing separate home invasion charges in 2007 due to an Illinois law requiring trials within 120 days of being charged.

"If the state had not proposed that he be released on the recognizance bond, then the 120 days would have expired and the case would have had to have been dismissed entirely," Mertes said.

The 28-year-old was arrested Tuesday after a lengthy manhunt. Sheley, who has been accused of killing two men, a woman and a child in his hometown of Rock Falls, Ill. He had also been wanted in connection to two killings in Missouri and an additional two killings in Illinois.


© 2008 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved.



Lead level prompts recall of Sport Balls (3 min)
Driver in Michigan crash had lost license (10 min)
Judge: No women ski jumping in 2010 games (26 min)
High court: Political ads on buses legal (27 min)
UPI NewsTrack Sports (32 min)
Boy, 12, allegedly raped schoolmate (32 min)
UPI NewsTrack TopNews (32 min)
fark
Naked man claiming to be a Terminator from the future arrested at Nevada casino, vows he'll be back...
CNN delves into the hard-hitting story others are too timid to confront: What do psychics have to...
Prospect Heights, Illinois Police Department HQ to close to the public on Fridays. Citizens are...
This sounds safe: 500,000 people with access to military weapons, all going through nicotine withdrawal...
"She's an opportunistic gold-digging attention whore," says opportunistic gold-digging attention...
Llost llamas llocated in Llouisville