Career
He is serving life in prison for six murders and is accused of two more in Missouri. He was arrested on July 1, 2008 in Granite City, Illinois. A $25,000 reward was offered for information leading to his arrest.
Federal authorities charged him with unlawful flight to avoid prosecution.
Sheley, of Rock Falls, Illinois, had been arrested frequently since adolescence for crimes ranging from marijuana possession to domestic battery. The couple had been dating since 2004.
They later divorced in December 2013 after his arrest. Sheley"s murder spree began on June 23, 2008, when he killed 93-year-old Russell Reed in his hometown, Sterling.
Police say Sheley was looking for money to buy cocaine and bludgeoned Reed.
Reed"s body was found in the trunk of his car three days later. On June 28, Sheley invaded the home of 65-year-old Ronald Randall in Galesburg then murdered him and stole his truck. All four victims had been bludgeoned with a hammer.
Sheley"s deoxyribonucleic acid was found in the apartment and he was seen wearing one of the victim"s clothes the next day.
Sheley fled to Festus, Missouri after the Rock Falls murders and on June 30 allegedly committed his last two murders. The victims were Tom and Jill Estes, both 54, of Sherwood, Arkansas.
They had attended a graduation party and were allegedly attacked by Sheley outside the hotel at which they were staying. Sheley put their bodies in Randall"s truck and abandoned the car at a gas station.
The day of his arrest, Sheley was seen at a Saint Louis Cardinals game, where he asked to use a tailgater"s cell phone.
Sheley also requested that the man delete the phone numbers. However, police were able to trace the call back to a drug house in the Kirkwood area. This, coupled with statements from witnesses, led directly to Sheley"s arrest.
Sheley was convicted of the first-degree murder of Randall in Knox County, Illinois on September 29, 2011.
His trial for the murder of Reed began in Whiteside County, Illinois on October 22, 2012. He was found guilty on November 6 of charges of first-degree murder, home invasion, and residential burglary, and was sentenced on January 16, 2013, to life imprisonment for the murder, as well as 30 years for home invasion and 15 years for residential burglary.
He is an inmate at Stateville Correctional Center just outside Joliet, Illinois. Sheley was also found guilty of first-degree murder in a Rock Island County court on May 29, 2014, for the four murders in Rock Falls.
He was sentenced on August 11, 2014.
Prosecutors have said that Sheley killed the four victims in Rock Falls after finding out that Branson was having an affair with Holly Sheley. In February 2015, Sheley was extradited to Jefferson County, Missouri to stand trial for the murders of the Estes". Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty.
Confirmed
Accused.