Killer to be tried next in Arkansans' deaths

A man serving life sentences for two killings was convicted Thursday in the deaths of four others who were fatally beaten with a hammer in a northwest Illinois apartment.

After a little more than three hours of deliberation, jurors found Nicholas Sheley, 34, guilty of murder in the deaths of 29-year-old Brock Branson; 20-year-old Kilynna Blake; her son, 2-year-old Dayan; and 25-year-old Kenneth Ulve in Rock Falls, Ill., in June 2008.

The killings were part of a series of crimes authorities said Sheley committed in the summer of 2008, stretching from his hometown of Sterling, Ill., south to St. Louis. Sheley already is serving life sentences for the deaths of two Illinois men that June. He is due to be tried next in Missouri in the deaths of an Arkansas couple.

Police said the violence was fueled by alcohol and drugs. Prosecutors said Sheley believed Branson was having an affair with his then-wife, Holly Sheley.

Sentencing in the Rock Falls killings is set for Aug. 11. Illinois does not have the death penalty.

Sheley next faces trial in the deaths of Jill and Tom Estes, a Sherwood couple who were traveling in Missouri. Prosecutors in that state can pursue the death penalty.

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