Police: Soltys cooperative after arrest

Nikolay Soltys

SACRAMENTO, California (CNN) -- Ukrainian immigrant Nikolay Soltys, accused of killing six of his family members, was cooperating Friday with authorities after being arrested Thursday.

"We are interviewing him, and the interview is going well," Sacramento County Sheriff Lou Blanas told reporters. "At this point, he's very cooperative."

Soltys, 27, was arrested Thursday morning as he hid in the back yard of his mother's home after 10 days on the lam. "He's pretty tired, pretty run down," Blanas said.

A knife found in Soltys' backpack was "consistent with the murder weapon," he said.

VIDEO CNN's Thelma Gutierrez reports that with Nikolay Soltys' arrest, the Ukrainian community can begin the healing process (September 1) Play video (QuickTime, Real or Windows Media) Nikolay Soltys, who is accused of killing six family members, is apprehended in Sacramento. CNN's Gina London reports (August 31) Play video (QuickTime, Real or Windows Media) Sacramento County Sheriff Lou Blanas talks to reporters about the capture of Nikolay Soltys (August 30) Play video (QuickTime, Real or Windows Media)   EXTRA INFORMATION • CNN Access: Officers describe Soltys' capture   • On the Scene: Roger Cossack on what's next   • Gallery: Sacramento killings rampage   • Map: Key locations in California slayings     RESOURCES FBI: Ten Most Wanted Fugitives   FBI: Nikolay Soltys   Message board: Family violence     AUDIO Detective Chris Joachim describes how officers found Nikolay Soltys 2.9 mb / 24 sec WAV sound

Quoting unnamed sources, the Sacramento Bee newspaper said Soltys confessed to the killings during an interview with authorities and said he committed the crimes because his family was trying to poison him.

Blanas said he would not discuss the motive for the slayings at the request of the district attorney's office.

Deputies had been staking out the house of Soltys' mother since the slayings.

"We observed the family leave the residence in a very hurried fashion," said Sacramento Sheriff's Detective Chris Joachim. In the car were five of Soltys' relatives, including his brother and his mother.

Officers followed the car to a nearby store, where Soltys' brother, Sergei, called 911 and reported the suspect was in his mother's back yard, hiding under a desk.

"Somehow, the suspect had arrived in the back yard on foot undetected in the cover of darkness," Joachim said.

Blanas said, "There's so many ways to get into the back yard, you can't cover every inch."

After returning to the house, police peered through a backyard fence and saw the suspect's feet emerging from under a desk outside a sliding glass door and near a junked refrigerator, he said.

"As he heard us, he sprang to his feet," said Joachim, who was one of the arresting officers.

With the refrigerator door blocking the suspect's exit, "He thrust his hands in the air as soon as I entered the gate," Joachim said. "I was happy to see he was unarmed."

Soltys was handcuffed without putting up resistance.

Family members were taken to the rear of the house, where they identified him. "He spoke no words that I heard during the entire incident," Joachim said.

Sporting several days' growth of beard, Soltys appeared disheveled. "His whole body was dirty, like he'd been camping out," Joachim said.

In addition to the knife, Soltys had a map of the Sacramento area, a sleeping bag and a potato peeler, Joachim said. "I believe he was maybe peeling potatoes, if he was camping out."

His head bowed, Soltys was put into the rear seat of a police car and taken to the Sacramento County Sheriff's Department, where he was questioned.

He had been the subject of a nationwide manhunt and was on the FBI's Ten Most Wanted list.

Soltys is accused of beating and stabbing to death his pregnant wife and four other relatives August 20 and killing his 3-year-old son later that day or the next.

More than a dozen Soltys relatives had been under police protection for the past week. "Most of the family were terrified of him, especially the brother," Blanas said. "They are very relieved and excited over the fact that he's in custody."

Several family members expressed gratitude to law enforcement officials for protecting them during Soltys' time on the lam.

At one point, the officers guarding the family threw a birthday party for one of the children.

Blanas said law enforcement officials had blanketed the Ukrainian community. "We were all over the place," following up hundreds of leads, he said.

There was no indication Soltys had been helped by anyone, Blanas said. "Just by his physical appearance, it looked like he'd been living in a field all this time, or somewhere here close to the house."

Blanas said the suspect may have been living in a homeless camp a few blocks from his mother's house or in woods nearby.