Convicted serial killer Nicholas Sheley gave his first-ever statement at any of his trials during a plea hearing Wednesday afternoon (Oct. 4) in front of a crowd of about 50 people at the Jefferson County Courthouse, where he was sentenced to two life sentences without the possibility of parole.
Sheley, who was already convicted of six 2008 murders in Illinois and was charged with murder in the deaths of two people in Festus as part of the same crime spree, said he regretted his actions, had found God and apologized to the victims, victims’ families, anyone associated with the investigation into his crimes and the community at large.
“I don’t believe a word he said,” said Dallas Bronson, whose son, Brock Bronson, was one of the Galesburg, Ill., victims.
Sheley’s words also failed to move the family of the two victims murdered in Festus – married couple Thomas Estes, 55, and Jill Estes, 54, of Sherwood, Ark., who were beaten to death on the Festus Comfort Inn hotel parking lot, 1303 Veterans Blvd., at the tail end of his killing spree nine years ago.
At Wednesday’s hearing, Sheley, 38, avoided the possibility of the death penalty in that case by pleading guilty and accepting two sentences of life in prison without the possibility of parole. If he had not accepted the plea agreement, he was scheduled to go to trial Jan. 8, 2018, for the Festus murders.
“The death penalty was the only acceptable result that could have come anywhere near being acceptable,” said Patrick Steed, the Esteses’ son-in-law. Steed served as spokesman for the Estes family. “You know what it’s like being in the presence of evil,” he said of seeing Sheley.
Sheley faced two counts of first-degree murder, a class A felony, and two counts of armed criminal action, an unclassified felony.
Retired 23rd Circuit Court Judge Gary Kramer presided over Wednesday’s hearing. Kramer participates in the Missouri court system’s Senior Judge Program, and the circuit’s presiding judge, Div. 2 Circuit Judge Darryl Missey, asked Kramer to hear the case.
Kramer accepted Sheley’s plea agreement and sentenced him to life in prison without the eligibility of parole for each of the first-degree murder charges and 75 years in prison for each of the armed criminal action charges. Kramer said the sentences for the Missouri crimes are to be served consecutively to each other and consecutively to the life sentences he previously received in Illinois.
Family members of the victims said they were disappointed that the case ended with Sheley’s plea and that there would be no chance for a death penalty sentence. Since Illinois does not have the death penalty, the only possibility for Sheley to have received a death sentence was in the Missouri courts.
Following the plea hearing, Jefferson County Prosecuting Attorney Forrest Wegge read a prepared statement saying he hopes the plea agreement brings some closure to the victims’ family.
“The next time he exits prison he will be in a pine box,” Wegge said.
On June 8, 2015, assistant Jefferson County assistant prosecuting attorney Steve Jerrell filed legal notice that prosecutors would seek the death penalty in the Esteses’ deaths.
Wegge did not explain in his statement why his office changed course; he said the prosecution would have no further comment on the case.
Steed said his family knew about the plea agreement before the hearing, but he did not know why it was proposed.
“There’s been no real good explanation,” Steed said. “You feel let down by the decision.”
Sheley reads prepared statement
Sheley made his statement in court after Jerrell, who handled the case for the Prosecuting Attorney’s Office, read law enforcement accounts of the Estes murders.
After Jerrell finished reading the lengthy report, Kramer asked Sheley if the details were “substantially true.”
Sheley responded, “Yes.”
Then, Sheley, who had been led into the courtroom cuffed at the hands and legs, asked Kramer if one of his hands could be uncuffed to allow him to read from a statement he had previously prepared. Kramer agreed and Sheley’s right hand was freed to hold the paper. He said he had never before spoken at a trial upon the advice of his attorneys.
His approximately 20-minute statement included apologies to a number of people, including to his ex-wife and four children.
He began by saying that if ever there were circumstances calling for the death penalty, “I qualified,” and “I stand guilty before you as charged.”
He admitted to killing eight people nearly nine years ago. He said not only were drugs involved in his rampage, but also that he had been “disgruntled.”
“I took it out on other people,” Sheley said.
At one point, Sheley dropped to one knee to thank Jerrell for the plea agreement. At another, he got on both knees to say, “I am trying to do what’s right. I am truly sorry for what I have done.”
In addition to his numerous apologies, Sheley referred to the character Red from the film, “The Shawshank Redemption.” He noted that the character was convicted of murder at a young age and several scenes depicted the character’s parole hearings over the years.
“He eventually lost any hope,” Sheley said of the movie character.
He spoke of reading a religious book about “God’s grace,” saying it “changed my life forever.” He also said he would drop all appeals to his Illinois murder convictions.
Sheley said he expects to be “mocked” for his statement, but added that his statement was sincere. “It’s simply because I feel it is the right course of action,” he said.
After Sheley spoke, Jerrell read an impact statement from Jill Estes’ sister, Sandra Behlmann, who praised her sister’s life’s work in special education. Behlmann also said Sheley’s actions deprived her and her family of Jill and Tom Estes.
“A precious sister was taken away from me,” Jerrell read from Behlmann’s statement, the only one read at the hearing.
Cari Randall of Galesburg, the daughter of one of Sheley’s victims in Galesburg, scoffed at Sheley’s statement.
“I think it was an outstanding performance,” Randall said. “I’m glad they’re teaching acting (in jail).”
Festus Police Chief Tim Lewis, who attended the hearing, also said he was skeptical of Sheley’s statement.
“His crime was pretty brutal, so it was hard to believe what he said,” Lewis said. “I saw what he had done (upon finding the Esteses’ bodies). It was pretty horrible.”
Lewis praised law enforcement officers’ work and said it contributed to “an airtight case.”
Sheley was extradited to Jefferson County in February 2015 to face his Missouri charges after he was convicted of six murders in Illinois during what has been described as a “spree” starting June 23, 2008, in Sterling, Ill., and continuing over the next week until the Esteses’ deaths on June 30, 2008.
Sheley was arrested July 1, 2008, in Granite City, Ill., when customers in a tavern recognized him from news photos and contacted police, as reported in the July 10, 2008, Jefferson County Leader.
Festus Police said Sheley ambushed the Esteses, who died of blunt trauma injuries to the head, as they came out of their 2006 Corvette in the hotel parking lot.
In the hours before he killed the couple, Sheley was reported to have visited a home in Festus looking for an acquaintance, talked with women in a city park and made a phone call from a feed store.
He also went to the Lowe’s and the Payless Shoe Store in Festus. Police say after the killings, he went to the Twin City Walmart store, covered in blood, to buy clean clothes.