Call to Rock Falls attorney preceded Sheley’s arrest

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ROCK FALLS - Although the vigilance of a few Granite City bar patrons has been credited for the capture of Nicholas T. Sheley, a Rock Falls attorney sitting 250 miles away might actually have played an equal or greater role. KPLR-TV in St. Louis reported Wednesday that Sheley called his former attorney, Jim Mertes, from a Subway sandwich shop in Granite City Tuesday evening, shortly before he was taken into custody. The phone call was the last of many conversations Sheley had with the attorney, who was working under the direction of the FBI, a person close to the investigation told The Associated Press. The source spoke on the condition of anonymity, because the investigation is ongoing. The Subway is in the Crossroads strip mall, adjacent to Bindy's Bar and Grill. Cassie Bosomworth was working in the Subway when a man who turned out to be Sheley approached her, asking if he could use the phone. "He was really dirty, had on a white T-shirt and jeans ... construction worker dirty ... he looked like he hadn't ate in days," Bosomworth said. The man, who was carrying plastic shopping bags, told Bosomworth that another employee said he could use the phone. Bosomworth later learned from the other employee that Sheley had asked him to use his cell phone, and to borrow a lighter for a cigarette. "He asked for a pair of gloves, too, which was weird," she said, adding that Sheley never explained why he wanted them. Bosomworth said he made two calls, each of which lasted less than a minute. She didn't hear what the man said. A few seconds after he left, the phone rang. The caller asked for the Subway's address. He didn't identify himself, but he was calling from the number that Sheley had called, she said. A call to that number by The Associated Press was answered by Mertes, who said it was his cell phone. Mertes has represented Sheley several times, and is his lawyer in a pending 2007 home invasion case in Whiteside County. Mertes confirmed that he had talked to Sheley more than once, but would not say how many times or what the two discussed. He referred all other questions to the FBI. Sheley eventually went into Bindy's, where patrons recognized him from news reports, quietly left the bar and flagged down a police officer who was in the parking lot. When Sheley stepped out for a cigarette, he was arrested without a struggle. The Associated Press and staff writer Joseph Bustos contributed to this story.