Now that the man suspected of killing eight people in Illinois and Missouri is in custody, peace of mind is beginning to return to the Whiteside County communities of Rock Falls and Sterling, where five of the murders occurred. But for the victims' families, there's a long healing process ahead.

"That's my boy," says Dallas Branson, looking at a picture of his son Brock.
Last week Brock Branson was a roofer, happy with his girlfriend Kilynna Blake and her two year old son Dayan.
"He just loved her little boy, treated him like gold," says Dallas.
This week, all three are dead, brutally murdered at a Rock Falls apartment building overnight Saturday, along with Kenneth Ulvey, a friend of Branson's.
Branson's father discovered the gruesome scene. When he didn't hear from his son for two days, he went to Brock and Kilynna's apartment and pushed the door open.
"I looked down and there she was. She was like this and she was just covered in blood. I mean it was horrendous," Dallas Branson describes. "And then I looked up and there was my son. He was laying face down and I seen little Dayan's feet, all I seen was his little legs. I said they're dead, they're all dead."
The murder suspect, Nicholas Sheley, was arrested Tuesday in Granite City. In total he's suspected of killing eight people in Missouri and Illinois, including a 93-year old Sterling man.
Branson's father is glad Sheley's in custody, but he wants more information.
"I want to know who did it, definitely and if it was him, I'll be relieved, that part."
But nothing can take away the pain of losing his only son so violently.
"We were really close. We liked being together," says Branson.
He puts down a photograph of Brock, Kilynna and Dayan, saying, "I can't look at it." Then adds, "He was a good kid. He had a nice heart, that's what he had."

Dallas Branson says his son also wanted to marry his girlfriend Kilynna and have children. He says it was important to both father and son to carry on the family name.
There are rumors Sheley was connected to one of the quadruple murder victims. Dalllas Branson says he had dinner with his son Saturday night before the murders and asked Brock if he knew Sheley. Brock said he did not.