In Illinois, police catch man suspected of killing 8

GRANITE CITY, Ill. – Police and FBI agents captured an ex-convict – suspected of killing eight people in two states – outside of a southwestern Illinois bar Tuesday night, a bar employee said.

Nicholas T. Sheley, who was the subject of a multistate manhunt after authorities linked him to the deaths of eight people in Illinois and Missouri, was arrested about 7 p.m. outside of Bindy’s, a Granite City bar, said bartender Katie Ronk.

Sheley ordered a glass of water and went to the bathroom before another bartender and customer recognized him, Ronk said. They notified police, who arrived minutes later with FBI agents and took Sheley into custody while he smoked a cigarette outside the bar.

Tim Lewis, the police chief in the St. Louis suburb of Festus, Mo., said publicity from news reports paid off after 6 p.m. when a number of Granite City residents reported seeing Sheley.

The FBI on Tuesday launched a manhunt for Sheley. Among those authorities believe Sheley killed was a 93-year-old man.

Sheley, 28, has only been charged in the death of one of the eight. He faces charges of first-degree murder, aggravated battery and vehicular hijacking in the death of Ronald Randall, whose body was found Monday behind a grocery store in Galesburg, in northwestern Illinois, police said. An autopsy showed the 65-year-old died from blunt force trauma to the head.