GALESBURG, Ill. (AP) - Half of the 16 jurors needed to try Nicholas Sheley in the first of the eight killings he's charged with have been selected.
Four jurors were sworn in by mid-day Friday. The pace of selection appears to have picked up after moving slowly since the process started Monday.
Sheley has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder in the 2008 bludgeoning of 65-year-old Ronald Randall of Galesburg. Sheley is from Sterling.
Knox County Judge James Stewart has said he'd like a jury to be seated by Tuesday so testimony can begin in what could be a lengthy trial.
The 32-year-old Sheley has pleaded not guilty in six other killings in Illinois and the deaths of an Arkansas couple traveling in Missouri. All of those deaths were in June 2008.