Nikolay Soltys Found Dead

Nikolay Soltys, a Ukrainian immigrant accused in the bloody slayings of six family members, hanged himself in his jail cell early Wednesday, the sheriff's department said.

Soltys, who allegedly used a knife to kill his pregnant wife, 3-year-old son and four other relatives in August, was scheduled to have a preliminary hearing March 19.

He had been undergoing mental evaluations, his lawyer said.

"Right now I'm in absolute shock. I'm baffled how this could have happened, given that he was in isolation" with surveillance cameras trained on his cell, said his attorney, Tommy Clinkenbeard.

"It's very suspicious," he said. "There's something wrong here."

Soltys had appeared in court Monday in a wheelchair, the result of jumping off a jail balcony in December. Jail officials said he had inexplicably jumped from the second floor after he was ordered back to his cell.

He was placed under a medical watch in October after he punctured his chest several times with a pencil. Clinkenbeard said he was merely imitating other detainees by giving himself a jailhouse tattoo, and he was returned to his cell after officials decided he was not suicidal.

"It's too early to have comment," said Robin Shakely, a spokeswoman for Sacramento County District Attorney Jan Scully. "It's not like we've had that many suicides of high-profile cases."

Sacramento County Sheriff spokesman James Lewis said sheriff's detectives, investigators from the district attorney's office and the county coroner were conducting an investigation, and no other information was immediately available.

Soltys, 28, allegedly slashed his wife's throat, then killed his aunt and uncle and their two 9-year-old grandchildren before fleeing with his 3-year-old son. The boy was found dead, his throat slit, one day later in a cardboard box on a trash heap.

Soltys fled after the rampage, prompting an intense manhunt. In a note he left in his abandoned vehicle, he explained that he killed his relatives because they were "poisoning" his reputation.

Captured days later in his mother's back yard, he told investigators his wife had been disrespectful. Their troubles began years earlier in Ukraine, where her family said he regularly beat her.

©MMII CBS Worldwide Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press and Reuters Limited contributed to this report