Ex-Con Suspected in 8 Murders Captured in Ill.

An exhaustive, two-state manhunt for an ex-convict suspected in eight grisly slayings ended with the man quietly arrested last night outside a bar known as a police hangout. Police knew from a number of witness reports that Nicholas T. Sheley, 28, was in the area, said the police chief in the St. Louis suburb of Festus, Mo. "He was desperate and he gave up without a fight. He's had a rough two days."  

The FBI yesterday launched a manhunt for Sheley, who is suspected of killing, among others, a 93-year-old man, a toddler and a couple whose blood-soaked dogs were found roaming a motel parking lot. Sheley has been charged only in the death of one of the eight; all died from blunt force trauma to the head, investigators said, and evidence linked to Sheley was recovered at each scene. (More Nicholas T. Sheley stories.)