Authorities have detained a man who admitted to savagely murdering a 77-year-old Florida resident in April and six others around the country, the Miami Herald reports.

Police arrested 32-year-old Nicholas Gibson last weekend in New York City, where he got into a fight with officers while exiting a subway train. One of the officers was injured in the scuffle.

Investigators had tracked Gibson to New York from the Miami area, where he is accused of brutally killing 77-year-old Erik Stocker, whose body was found only after neighbors complained of a foul smell emanating from his apartment.

Gibson allegedly mutilated Stocker with a sword, according to the Miami Herald. Sources told the newspaper that Gibson may have been taking care of Stocker before the killing.

The U.S. Marshals Service was also pursuing Gibson because he had reportedly failed to register as a sex offender.

While police were interviewing Gibson this week, he reportedly confessed to six other murders in Florida, Georgia and California.

“In that interview, he admitted to his involvement in the murder of Mr. Stocker,” Miami Beach Police Department Public Information Officer Ernesto Rodriguez said in a written statement obtained by the newspaper.

“We also recovered physical evidence to support the murder charges that will be filed against him once he is returned to Miami.”

He added: “Mr. Gibson also made additional statements about his involvement in six other murders during earlier times in his life.”

Miami Beach police are working with authorities where those murders allegedly occurred to assess whether Gibson was telling the truth — a process Rodriguez said would take a long time.

Gibson is expected to be extradited back to Florida, where he will be prosecuted for Stocker’s murder. Gibson also could face charges in New York for assaulting a police officer and resisting arrest.