Five slain in Sacramento rampage
Associated Press
Associated Press
SACRAMENTO — A 27-year-old man stabbed his wife to death today and then drove to a home in a nearby suburb and killed four more relatives before fleeing with his 3-year-old son, authorities said.
Two unidentified men console each other after four people were killed in the home next door today in Rancho Cordova, Calif. Police are searching for Nikolay Soltys, who is suspected of stabbing his wife to death and killing four others before fleeing with his 3-year-old son.
Nikolay Soltys, a Ukrainian immigrant with no known criminal record, was being sought for the slayings of his wife, aunt and uncle, and two young cousins, Sacramento County sheriff's Sgt. James Lewis said.
"We want to get this guy off the streets as quickly as possible," he said.
Police called by a neighbor found the body of Soltys' 27-year-old wife at a home in North Highlands. The other victims — the two adults, a 9-year-old girl and a 10-year-old boy — were found at a home in Rancho Cordova, about 10 miles away.
Associated Press
The girl was pronounced dead at a hospital. Authorities did not describe the wounds of the victims who were found together, though a hospital spokeswoman said the girl had been stabbed.
Ukrainian immigrant Nikolay Soltys, 27, is a suspect in this morning's killing of five people.
Lewis said officers believe Soltys took his young son from the second home.
"It's really uncommon and it's alarming that he would be in such a fit of rage," Lewis said. "To carry that rage to a second scene, to a second location, really speaks to the amount of danger we're dealing with."
The 10-year-old's body was found on the walkway outside the Rancho Cordova duplex. Police covered the body with a blanket. A blood stain remained on the wall above him.
Language problems between relatives and police slowed the investigation.
"Everybody's Russian — neighbors, relatives, everybody," Lewis said.
Sacramento, California's capital with 1.2 million people, is home to more than 50,000 immigrants from the former Soviet Union, mostly from Russia and Ukraine.
Oleg Bogush, a 19-year-old neighbor, said he has known Soltys since the suspect arrived from Ukraine more than a year ago.
"Almost anyone who lives in this area knows him," Bogush said, adding that Soltys was a quiet man. He also said Soltys' wife moved to the Sacramento area a few months ago with their child.
