BEASON -- When Sheriff Steve Nichols arrived here last Monday afternoon, he brought 30 years' experience to decipher clues to a massacre.

Fourteen hours later, as police and technicians at the Gee home pored over their work, Dan Fulscher met Nichols at his Lincoln office.

"Be ready, Sheriff," said Fulscher, the county's emergency management director. "Today, you're going coast to coast."

Indeed, he did. The story of a family's mass murder in a tiny Illinois farm town was hard to resist for network and cable news shows, which showed clip after clip of Nichols and street scenes of Beason.

Those who know him best say he's the right person for the job.

"Steve Nichols is the kind of guy you want on a case like this," said Logan County Board Chairman Terry Carlton. "He will work tirelessly until he finds out who did it. He is very professional and reaches out to other agencies quickly and thoroughly. He networks real well, so he knows which agencies can help him and he uses them."

Professional background

Nichols, 53, has been sheriff since 2002 after spending nine years as a state trooper in Illinois and South Dakota and 11 years investigating child abuse and neglect for the Department of Children and Family Services.

His bachelor's degree in law enforcement is from the well-established program at Western Illinois University, Macomb. He's eligible for a third term as sheriff in 2010.

Western's law enforcement and justice administration program is the largest in the region and the fourth largest in the country, said director Darrell Ross.

"We have a high standard to enroll in the school and also to graduate and our alumni have been very successful in the law enforcement field upon graduation," Ross said. "It's a very difficult program, but those who graduate have expertise in the criminal justice field through research, service and technical assistance."

Nichols has been tight-lipped on specifics related to the investigation, but gives wide credit to his staff and other agencies.

Carlton acknowledged the lack of public information may be frustrating.

"If the sheriff compromises the investigation by revealing too much, we have done a greater harm to society if it leads to the person or persons responsible getting away with this," Carlton said. "Sheriff Nichols is cautious and very perceptive. He's a great man and a great leader and we have full confidence in his ability to find out who is responsible."

Guided by faith

Funeral home director Chuck Fricke was Logan County coroner in 2002 and 2003 when Nichols was first elected. He said Nichols is a very Christian man and believes his faith guides him in his work.

"Whatever the situation, the victim is trying to tell you something and he understands that," said Fricke, whose funeral home coordinated Monday's service for the Gee and Constant families. "We want to know who you are, where you have been, what you have seen, and basically, what happened. Steve really gets to the heart of that and he works extremely hard in cases like this and cares very deeply for the victims and their families."

Fulscher said Nichols is relentless in his investigations. "I'm 100 percent behind him and if it were my family, this would be the guy I want to help find who did it," he said. "I have complete trust in this man."