Sells admitted a lot more killings, too. Dozens. For example, he convinced authorities in Southern Illinois that he slaughtered the Dardeen family in the tiny village of Ina, about 75 miles southeast of St. Louis, in 1987.

And, now, there is still more.

"Sells told Texas Rangers that he had killed a woman and her child in St. Louis, and that he had killed a black female in Missouri," said Lt. Ron Henderson, commander of the St. Louis Police Department's homicide unit. The decapitated girl here was African-American.

It's hardly enough cause to accuse Sells, but plenty of reason for detectives to pack their bags for Texas.