Thursday August 23, 2001 |

SACRAMENTO - Evidence he may have "violated" his 3-year-old son after using toys to lure him to his death suggests that Nikolay Soltys may be more than a methodical killer, criminal profilers said yesterday. He may in fact be psychotic - and capable of killing again.

Soltys, an unemployed Ukrainian immigrant, continued to elude an intense nationwide manhunt two days after the fatal stabbings of his son, pregnant wife and four other family members.

Sacramento County Sheriff Lou Blanas called Soltys a "cold-blooded, calculated killer" and warned that anyone assisting the missing man was "at risk of being his next victim."

The pattern of slayings - vicious stabbings interspersed with deliberate decision-making - suggest he's delusional, rather than just engaging in crimes of rage or opportunity, said forensic psychologist Barry Rosenfeld, a professor at Fordham University in New York City.

"Once there is a cooling-off period in between some of the murders, then it's no longer a spree," Rosenfeld added.

Sacramento sheriff's investigators agreed after finding toys in the cardboard box along with the body of Sergey Soltys Tuesday afternoon. They also said evidence showed the boy may have been "violated," but wouldn't comment on whether that meant the boy had been sexually molested.

Sheriff's Detective Ron Garverick said two sets of footsteps - one belonging to a barefoot adult - went into the area where they found the boy's body under a microwave tower east of Sacramento. Only one set of footprints led out, and authorities found a small pair of sandals at the scene, Garverick said.

"Little Sergey was found in the box sort of head down," Garverick said.

Soltys, Garverick said, may be driving an emerald green Ford Explorer with a rear hatch painted a lighter shade of green. His 1995 Nissan Altima was found abandoned Monday.