A delay will be requested for the upcoming murder trial of convicted killer Nicholas T. Sheley of Sterling.
Defense attorney Jeremy Karlin, of Galesburg, will ask Rock Island Circuit Judge F. Michael Meersman, at a hearing Friday for the fourth delay in Sheley’s first Whiteside County murder trial.
The case, scheduled to go to trial Sept. 10, also would be the first test of active news media presence in a Whiteside County court under the cameras-in-the-courtroom initiative of the Illinois Supreme Court.
In a motion filed last week, Karlin said his DNA expert had a family emergency and would not be able to analyze some DNA data provided by the State Crime Lab in Rockford in time for the Sept. 10 trial.
Karlin wote that, if his fourth request for a trial delay is not granted, Sheley's right to a fair trial would be "gravely compromised." He suggested moving the trial date to Oct. 15.
Sheley, 33, is charged with 10 counts of first-degree murder and several other felonies in the death of Russell Reed, 93, of rural Sterling. Investigators say Reed was the first of eight people Sheley killed during an alcohol- and drug-fueled spree in late June 2008.
Sheley is serving life without parole in the death of Ronald Randall, 65, of Galesburg. He also is charged in with killing four Rock Falls residents and an Arkansas couple.
