Jailed man wants to handle own case on new charges

GALESBURG -- A judge says an Illinois man charged in the deaths of eight people will have to wait to find out whether he can act as his own layer on new charges that he assaulted Knox County Jail employees.

Knox County Judge Dwayne Morrison appointed a public defender to represent 29-year-old Nicholas Sheley on Thursday. Sheley is charged with aggravated battery, criminal damage to government-supported property and aggravated assault.

Morrison plans to take up Sheley's request Monday.

Sheley reportedly took the legs off a chair April 17 and threw them at correctional officers.

Sheley is also charged in the death of a Galesburg man, as well as the deaths of five others in Illinois and two in Missouri.