Nikolay Soltys

Nikolay Alekseyevich Soltys (May 19, 1974 – February 13, 2002) was a Ukrainian fugitive charged by the United States District Court for the Eastern District of California in a Federal Bureau of Investigation arrest warrant. The federal charges were for unlawful flight to avoid prosecution and there were California arrest warrants for six murders of his family members in and around the Sacramento area in August 2001.

Background Residents from Soltys' former hometown of Shumsk in Western Ukraine described him as a shoemaker with violent and unpredictable behavior.

The Fakty had apparently confirmed the 27-year-old refugee had a history of violence during an interview of Soltys' parents-in-law. They also denied that his rejection for enrollment into the Ukrainian military service was due to his mental instability. Instead, the relatives told the Fakty "What kept him out of the army was due to his flat feet."

During one violent encounter, Nakonechnyi claimed that he and his brother went to the married couple's residence and tried to take their sister back home. Soltys retaliated and tried to attack the brothers with an ax. After this incident, Soltys left Ukraine, leaving his wife and newborn son and joining his parents in New York in 1998. After he arrived in New York, he ended up jobless after a car accident injury and was collecting welfare assistance.

During this time, over 90 percent of the recent Ukrainian refugees in the United States had successfully immigrated as an outcome of the Lautenberg Amendment. The amendment required the U.S. attorney general to identify Evangelical Christians, Ukrainian Catholics, Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox and Jews. These identified populations of refugees were referred to as "likely targets of persecution" in the former Soviet Union. Under this legislation, candidates were permitted admission if they could prove a justifiable fear of persecution. In practice, one's admission could be granted by simply telling U.S. embassy officials that such a fear was in place.

A requirement called for the applicant to be of "good moral character", said INS spokeswoman Kimberly Weissman, in Washington, D.C. "We wouldn't have approved an applicant who openly or admittedly has a criminal record," Weissman said.

Before 10 a.m., Soltys left the North Highlands murder scene. Witnesses told detectives he had fled in his 1995 silver Nissan Altima. He drove to the home of his aunt and uncle in Rancho Cordova.

Aunt, uncle and cousins

Soltys had lived with his aunt and uncle prior to his wife's arrival from Ukraine. When he first arrived Monday morning he showed no signs of trouble, authorities said.

Before 11 a.m., authorities received a second 9-1-1 call from a neighbor down the street, who saw a girl's body in the roadway and dialed 911 to report a hit-and-run. "I thought she was run over by a car, and then I heard a woman say, 'There's another one over here,'" Christopher Smith said.

Son's death

When Soltys arrived at his mother's home on Monday afternoon, she told detectives on Tuesday that he seemed peaceful but hasty. He instantly walked to the kitchen sink and washed his hands, and the mother said he seemed messy but she saw no obvious bloodstains. After washing his hands, he quickly took his 3-year-old, blonde haired son, Sergey Soltys, and left.

The boy's body was discovered in a blood-filled cardboard box, that was made for a 37-inch television set, by Sacramento County sheriff personnel. Prior to the discovery, sheriff officials had been searching along Watt Avenue, with helicopters and K-9 units, since the early morning hours of Tuesday. "I thought there was some hope that we'd still find the kid alive," said Sacramento County Sheriff Lou Blanas after the discovery of the toddler's body was released. "It is just very sad that this is the way it turned out."

Soltys' abandoned Nissan Altima was found Monday night near the intersection of Auburn Boulevard and Madison Avenue. When detectives found the photo, they were not sure the message was authentic or simply a lie to lead the official's investigation in a flawed direction.

Aftermath On August 23, he became the 466th fugitive to be placed on the FBI's Ten Most Wanted list. On August 30, Soltys was arrested in the backyard of a family member's home without incident in Citrus Heights, California and was booked into the Sacramento County Jail. He subsequently committed suicide by hanging himself in his cell on February 13, 2002.