DECATUR - A 30-year-old Decatur man who reportedly told a friend "I murdered my wife" was arrested early Wednesday in Quincy in connection with the wife's bludgeoning and stabbing death.

The man, Brent A. Vest, made the statement Tuesday when the friend pressed him about what was going on between him and his wife, Decatur police said late Tuesday in seeking an arrest warrant.

Circuit Judge Katherine McCarthy issued a warrant for Vest in the death of his wife, Christina M. Vest, 29. He was apprehended at 1:36 a.m. Wednesday by a Quincy police officer who spotted Vest's pickup truck and matched its description and license plate number to an AMBER alert issued by Decatur authorities.

Vest had taken his children, ages 7 and 11, with him when he fled Decatur about 8 p.m. Tuesday, prompting police to issue the alert.

The death is Decatur's eighth homicide of 2008.

Police detectives went to Quincy on Wednesday and returned Vest to Macon County, where he was jailed for investigation of first-degree murder. He did not appear in court Wednesday but may do so today. No formal charges have been filed against him.

In seeking a warrant, detective James Atkinson said officers went to a home at 2140 E. Clay St. at 7:51 p.m. Tuesday after receiving a call from Robert Vest, Brent Vest's father. He had gone to his son's residence to check the welfare of his daughter-in-law, Christina.

Robert Vest reported that when he arrived at the house, he found her body in a bedroom, and there was blood everywhere.

Officers found her body lying facedown and covered by a shower curtain, Atkinson said. A large amount of blood was pooled around her body, and blood was on the walls of the room.

Lying on the floor near her head was a tire wrench. The bedroom door had been secured with a black cable in an apparent attempt to prevent entry to the room, Atkinson said.

During their investigation, officers spoke with a friend of Brent Vest, Atkinson said. The friend said Vest came to his house about 6 p.m. Tuesday with his children and asked to speak with the friend in the basement.

The friend asked Vest what he was doing, and Vest told him Christina had left the family and that he and the children were leaving town, Atkinson said.

Finding this response suspicious, the friend pressed Vest about what he was doing, Atkinson said. Vest then told him he had killed Christina by attacking her with a tire iron while she was sleeping, adding that he also stabbed her in the head with a knife.

Vest then tried to move his wife's body, but it was cold and he could not go through with it, according to the friend, so he tied the room's door shut to prevent the children from walking in and finding the body.

Macon County Coroner Michael E. Day said an autopsy conducted Wednesday on Christina Vest in Springfield determined the cause of death was massive bleeding and internal injuries as a result of multiple stab wounds with severe blunt force trauma to the head and torso.

Decatur Deputy Police Chief Todd Walker said Wednesday that he would not comment directly about a motive in the killing. Walker said he would not deny that an unstable marriage and possible substance abuse on the part of Brent Vest were contributing factors in the death.

Walker did state that it appeared efforts were made to conceal the body from people who may have entered the home and suggested that Christina Vest may have been dead for more than a day.

"This is yet another tragedy for a family to endure, as well as two small children," Walker said. "We are confident we have the right suspect in custody, and we are fortunate that the Illinois State Police AMBER alert system worked so efficiently and that the officer in Quincy was diligent in his duties."

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