Mo. seeks extradition of spree killer

ST. LOUIS -- A Missouri prosecutor enlisted the state's procedural help Tuesday in bringing back to his turf a man accused of killing an Arkansas couple during a deadly 2008 spree for which he is serving life sentences for six slayings in Illinois.

Steven Jerrell, the chief assistant prosecutor in Jefferson County, sent paperwork to Missouri's attorney general in launching his quest to have Nicholas Sheley returned from Illinois to face trial in the Festus, Missouri, killings of Jill and Tom Estes of Sherwood, Arkansas, both 54.

Illinois abolished capital punishment in recent years, so a conviction in the Estes' deaths could make Sheley, 34, eligible for the death penalty. But Jerrell said he doesn't know whether he will pursue that punishment or how soon both states will arrange for Sheley's return.

"I don't have any idea how long it'll take to get him back here, but we're certainly going to start the process," Jerrell said. "It depends on how fast the two governors' offices work."

Prosecutors say that over a few alcohol- and drug-fueled days in June 2008, Sheley carried out a series of killings stretching from his Illinois hometown of Sterling to Festus.

Sheley was sentenced to life sentences in August after he was convicted of bludgeoning four of six Illinois victims with a hammer. The bodies of the victims, ranging from 2 to 29 years old, were found in an apartment in northwestern Illinois' Rock Falls, about two miles from Sterling.

Festus police chief Tim Lewis has said it appeared the Arkansas couple was attacked outside a hotel after leaving a graduation party in Festus. Police say Sheley loaded their bodies into a pickup truck belonging to another of his victims and dumped the bodies near a gas station.

"You had droplets of blood we literally followed for a mile and a half on foot," Lewis has said.

Online court records do not show whether Sheley has an attorney in Missouri, where he is charged with two counts of first-degree murder and armed criminal action. A Jefferson County judge on Sept. 30 threw out Sheley's request to have those charges dismissed.

Sheley remained housed Tuesday at Illinois' maximum-security Pontiac Correctional Center.