CHICAGO – As the hunt wound down for the man suspected in a killing spree that left eight people dead in two states, a disheveled Nicholas T. Sheley walked calmly into a Subway restaurant in suburban St. Louis, asked to use the phone and called his lawyer – all but ensuring his capture.

But first he smoked a cigarette with an employee of the Granite City restaurant, inquiring about local clubs. The employee pointed him to Bindy's bar, where authorities converged and arrested Sheley minutes later.

The contact was set in motion when Sheley told a family member Tuesday that he wanted to talk to his lawyer, James Mertes, according to a person close to the investigation who also provided other details of the 28-year-old's last moments of freedom. The person spoke The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity because the investigation continues.

A Knox County judge in Galesburg on Thursday upheld a $1 million bond during a court appearance on charges of first-degree murder, aggravated battery, vehicle hijacking and theft in the beating death of 65-year-old Ronald Randall.

Sheley waived his right to a public defender, indicating he would hire his own attorney.

Sheley had been transferred earlier in the day from Madison County east of St. Louis, where he was held since his arrest, to the Knox County Jail. In court Wednesday, Sheley had said he couldn't afford to post bail.

Cassie Bosomworth was working in the fast-food restaurant when Sheley asked her whether he could use the phone.

“He was really dirty, had on a white T-shirt and jeans – construction worker dirty – (and) he looked like he hadn't ate in days,” Bosomworth said.

She said he made two calls, each of which lasted less than a minute. A few seconds after the man left, a man called and asked for the Subway restaurant's address. Bosomworth said the man was using the number that Sheley had called. A call to that number by The Associated Press was answered by Mertes, who said it was his cell phone.

Mertes, who has represented Sheley several times and is his lawyer in a pending 2007 home invasion case, confirmed he had talked to Sheley more than once. But he would not say whether they spoke earlier that day, how many times they had spoken or what the two discussed.

Authorities, who believe Sheley killed seven other people in the past week, said Thursday they have yet to determine the weapon used on all of the victims, who were beaten, or whether different weapons were used.

Prosecutors in western Illinois issued a warrant for Sheley's arrest for the murder of 93-year-old Russell Reed, the first of the eight killed. Whiteside County Sheriff Roger Schipper said a bloodied weather vane and a barstool in a pool of blood were found in Reed's home, but it was unclear whether they were used as weapons.

Schipper said his office also was looking into reports that Sheley, who lived nearby, may have come to Reed's home earlier this year looking for scrap metal.

Investigators said Sheley has been named a suspect in the slayings of six others. He has not been charged in those deaths, but authorities said evidence linked him to each crime scene.

The remains of two men, a woman and 2-year-old child were discovered Monday in an apartment in Rock Falls, Ill. State police said Sheley was acquainted with the male victims from Rock Falls, near his hometown.

South of St. Louis, Jefferson County prosecutors said they probably would decide next week whether to charge Sheley in the killings of an Arkansas couple, whose bodies were found Monday behind a gas station in a St. Louis suburb.

Tom and Jill Estes were attacked when they climbed out of their Corvette after leaving a graduation party, Festus Police Chief Tim Lewis told the AP on Thursday.

Police said Sheley didn't take their car, instead loading the bodies into a 2007 Chevrolet Silverado traced to Randall.

“You had droplets of blood we literally followed for a mile and a half on foot,” Lewis said.

Associated Press writer Jim Suhr in Festus contributed to this report.