Inmate Linked To Serial Killings

Authorities have identified an inmate as the key suspect in the deaths of several women whose bodies began turning up along rural roads four years ago.

Larry Bright, 38, is expected to be charged Thursday in one of the murders, with charges to be filed later tying him to as many as seven other deaths, State's Attorney Kevin Lyons said. Six women have been found dead since 2001 in neighboring Peoria and Tazewell counties, and four others are missing and feared dead.

Bright is already in jail on unrelated charges.

Authorities said they received a tip leading them to Bright, and that a search of his home and property Wednesday turned up remains of at least one body.

Bright's attorney, Joe Borsberry, said his client has "adamantly denied" any link to the deaths. He said Bright, a former concrete worker, has provided investigators with a DNA sample.

Authorities have said they suspected a single killer was responsible because of the similarities of the deaths. All the dead and missing women were black and had "questionable lifestyles," including prostitution or drug use.

The women found dead had been strangled or asphyxiated, or had overdosed on drugs. All had cocaine in their systems and none showed signs of a struggle.

Lyons said Bright will be charged in the murder of 40-year-old Linda Kay Neal, who was found in September along a one-lane gravel road near Hopedale, a small town southeast of Peoria.

Bright has been in the Tazewell County Jail since December, when he was arrested on unrelated drug and aggravated unlawful restraint charges.

Bright's lawyer said his client has pleaded not guilty to both of the charges for which he is being held on $250,000 bail.

The attorney said an unlawful restraint charge was filed after a prostitute alleged Bright held her against her will at gunpoint in his home. Authorities then allegedly found cocaine during a search of the home, he said.