Sheley timeline

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June 14
Nicholas T. Sheley, then 28, pushes his way into the home of a 90-year-old Sterling woman, forces her to write checks and takes cash, police say.

June 23
A police investigation fails to locate Sheley, and a $750,000 warrant is issued for his arrest on home invasion charges. He already is out on bond in a prior home invasion case.

June 26
8 a.m.: A missing person’s report is made when family can’t find Russell R. Reed, 93, or his car at his home on Blue Goose Road, between Sterling and Morrison. Whiteside County Sheriff’s deputies arrive at the home and find a car registered to Sheley.

3 p.m.: Reed’s car is found in the driveway at 1732 Griswold Ave. in Sterling. His body is in the trunk. Cause of death is “blunt force trauma,” officials say.

Early evening: An off-duty Rock Falls Police officer spots Sheley in a white Lincoln. About an hour later, the Rock Falls owner reports the car, cash and two handguns stolen. Sheley now also is wanted for burglary in that incident, police say.

9:45 p.m.: Dixon patrol officers spot Sheley on East River Street. He flees down Ravine Street, heads west on Second and out to Pump Factory Road. Officers find the car on Atkinson and Hicks roads south of Harmon. Sheley is gone.

June 27

7 a.m.: A red Jeep Cherokee is reported stolen from a home on Van Petten Road in Dixon, near where Sheley ditched the Lincoln. There are two guns and some hatchets in the Jeep, police say.

Early afternoon: Whiteside County Sheriff’s officials say they want to talk to Sheley’s cousin, Eric A. Smith, then 29, of Sterling, who may have been in contact with Sheley the last two days.

Early evening: Sheley’s brother, Josh, then 31, is arrested during a traffic stop on an Illinois Department of Corrections parole hold. Police believe he is staying at the house where Reed’s car was found, and has been in contact with his brother.

10 p.m.: Smith turns himself in to the Whiteside County Sheriff’s Department and is charged with obstructing justice for allegedly helping Sheley get rid of his blood-soaked clothes and shoes.

June 28

Late evening: Police raid a house at 300 Sixth Ave. in Rock Falls. No information is available on why, or what was found, if anything.

June 29

9 p.m.: A tip that Sheley was sighted leads to a another raid at an apartment at 610 E. Third St., Sterling, where police say Sheley’s wife, Holly, lives. The Emergency Response Team shoots tear gas canisters through the apartment windows, but finds nothing inside.

June 30

10:30 a.m.: The bodies of Arkanas couple Jill and Tom Estes, both 54, are found behind a gas station in Festus, Mo.

Noon: The body of Ronald Randall, 65, of Galesburg is found behind a grocery store there.

4 p.m.: Rock Falls Police get a call requesting officers check on the occupants at 1201 Ave. A, Apt. 5. Inside, they find the bodies of Brock Branson, 29; Kenneth Ulve, 25; Kilynna Blake, 20; and her son, Dayan Blake, 2.

July 1

6:45 p.m.: A plainclothes State Police officer spots Sheley in a parking lot in Granite City. He is arrested and held overnight in Madison County Jail. Two Granite City residents also spot him and call police.

July 3

Morning: Investigators find the Cherokee in the Quad Cities.

Afternoon: Sheley appears in Knox County Circuit Court, where he hears the charges of first-degree murder, aggravated battery, aggravated vehicular hijacking and two counts of theft in relation to Randall’s death. Bond is $1 million.

July 10
Sheley is charged with four counts of first-degree murder in Jefferson County, Mo., in the Estes deaths.

July 16
Joshua Sheley, Smith and Henson are indicted by a Whiteside County grand jury. Joshua Sheley was indicted on concealment of a homicidal death and obstructing justice; Henson on two counts of obstruction of justice; and Smith on two counts of unlawful possession of weapons by a felon and being an armed habitual criminal.

July 20
Sheley is put in isolation after he allegedly attacks another Knox County Jail inmate with a metal bar.

July 28
Sheley is indicted in Knox County on 10 counts of first-degree murder and seven counts involving other crimes in Randall’s death. The indictment supersedes the previous charges.
Bond is upped to $10 million.

Aug. 1
Sheley is indicted in Whiteside County on 10 counts of first-degree murder and four other counts, in Reed’s death. He also is indicted on charges of home invasion in the June 14 incident. Bond is set at $10 million and $2 million, respectively.

Sept. 3
Knox County State’s Attorney John Pepmeyer announces he will seek the death penalty in Randall’s death.

Sept. 11
Sheley tells Knox County Circuit Judge James Stewart that he is unhappy with his court-appointed attorneys, public defender Jim Harrell and private attorney Jeremy Karlin, and that he is fit to stand trial.

Sept. 18
Sheley is indicted on 15 counts of first-degree murder, three each for Branson, Ulve and Kilynna Blake, and six for Dayan Blake. Bond is set at $100 million.

Sept. 19
Sheley submits a motion asking to represent himself and dismiss his attorneys. He says the two of are filing motions, including one seeking a competency evaluation, to delay his trial.

Sept. 23
Sheley gives an interview to an Associated Press reporter. In it, he says he cooperated in his arrest, and criticizes his attorneys for making motions that will delay his trial.

Sept. 24
The judge issues a gag order, barring Sheley, all attorneys and investigators from speaking publicly about the case.

Oct. 6
Springfield-based forensic psychiatrist Dr. Terry Killian is appointed to evaluate Sheley.

Dec. 22
Sheley is found fit to stand trial, but unfit to represent himself, based on reports submitted by Killian and Chicago-based forensic neuropsychologist Dr. Robert Hanlon. Judge Stewart will consider hiring a third attorney to argue whether Sheley is able to represent himself.

Jan. 31
Stewart rules that Sheley will not be appointed a third attorney to argue that he can represent himself at trial. Sheley decides to stick with his court-appointed attorneys.

Feb. 12
Granite City residents Samantha Butler and Gary Range are each given a $5,000 reward for their roles in Sheley’s arrest.

That same day, Sheley’s wife, Holly, writes a 4-page letter to Sauk Valley Newspapers and several days later grants an interview to an SVN reporter at Whiteside County Jail, where she is serving a 2-month sentence for driving under the influence.

She says she was the “biggest lead” in the case and is entitled to at least half of the $25,000 reward offered for her husband’s capture.

March 16
Karlin files two motions, one seeking a change of venue in the Randall murder, and one challenging the constitutionality of the death penalty.

April 17
Guards at the Knox County Jail see Sheley cover a security camera in the maximum-security day room. When officers enter the room, Sheley throws the metal legs of a chair at them, and punches a guard in the face.

He is charged with aggravated battery, aggravated assault and damaging government property.

April 27
Sheley tells Knox County Associate Judge Dwayne Morrison that he wants to represent himself on the new charges; Morrison discourages Sheley.

May 12
A Knox County grand jury indicts Sheley on assault charges in the jail scuffle.

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