U.S. Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Investigation
For Immediate Release
August 30, 2001
Sacramento, California
Press Release

Sacramento, CA -- Richard R. Baker, Special Agent in Charge (SAC) of the Sacramento Division of the FBI, U.S. Marshal Jerry Enomoto, and Sacramento County Sheriff Lou Blanas announced that earlier today FBI "Ten Most Wanted Fugitive" Nikolay Soltys was arrested in Citrus Heights, California, a suburb of Sacramento. Soltys was located in the backyard of a family member's home and taken into custody without incident by Sacramento County Sheriff's Deputies and Officers from the Sacramento Police Department. FBI Agents and Deputies from the U.S. Marshals were also on scene during the arrest. Soltys is currently being detained at the Sacramento County Jail.

Nikolay Soltys, who was being sought for the murder of six of his family members in and around the Sacramento area, was considered armed and extremely dangerous.Soltys allegedly stabbed his 23-year-old pregnant wife to death in their North Highlands, California, home on August 20, 2001. He reportedly then drove to the home of his aunt and uncle where he is suspected of killing the couple and his two young cousins. After the first five murders, Soltys allegedly drove to his mother's house and picked up his three-year-old son. On August 21, 2001, investigators located the boy's body in an empty field in Roseville, California.

A state arrest warrant for murder was issued for Nikolay Soltys on August 20, 2001, by the California Superior Court for the County of Sacramento in Sacramento, California. Then, on August 21, 2001, the United States District Court for the Eastern District of California issued a federal arrest warrant charging Soltys with unlawful flight to avoid prosecution.

Nikolay Soltys was the 466th person to be placed on the FBI's "Ten Most Wanted Fugitives" list, which began in 1950. Since then, 438 fugitives have been apprehended or located, 140 of them as a result of citizen cooperation. "The FBI is indebted to the media for keeping this case in the public eye, and to the Ukrainian community for helping to capture this dangerous fugitive," said SAC Baker.

Further information about Nikolay Soltys, including his wanted poster, is available on the FBI's Internet Home Page. The FBI's Internet Home Page address is: http://www.fbi.gov. Sacramento Media Contact: FBI Special Agent Nick Rossi (916) 977-2258.

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