RICHMOND - At least three of the four victims found slain in a Farmville home last month had been
bludgeoned with a wood-cutting maul, sources close to the case tell CBS 6.
The female victims 18-year-old Melanie Wells, 16-year old Emma Niederbrock and her mother, Debra S. Kelley,
were struck while asleep or in an otherwise defenseless position, the sources said. There is no evidence at this point of any sexual assaults.
The fourth victim, Mark Niederbrock, Emma's father and Kelley's estranged husband is believed to have been struck with a chunk of wood and perhaps the maul as well, the sources said.
A maul is a heavy, doubleheaded tool with sharp, splitting edge as well as a blunt, sledgehammerlike face.
The homicides occurred sometime between September 13 and September 18 inside the Farmville home where Kelley, a Longwood University professor, and Emma Niederbrock lived. The forensics investigation in the case is not yet complete.
Once police found the bodies on September 18, investigators quickly identified a suspect, 20-year-old Richard Samuel Alden McCroskey III of Castro Valley, Calif. He was arrested without incident on the morning of September 19 while napping at Richmond International Airport.
A motive for the slayings remains unclear. McCroskey was a fan and budding performer of " horrorcore" or "death rap," a style of hip-hop music that explores and sometimes revels in violence and death. McCroskey, who called himself "Syko Sam," helped promote one of the horrorcore labels, Serial Killin Records, according to online statements and YouTube videos believed to have been authored by him.
Interviews with the victims' friends and relatives indicate McCroskey flew to Richmond and then traveled to Farmville to join Emma Niederbrock and Melanie Wells, who was from West Virginia, on a journey to Southgate, Mich., for the Sept. 12 "Strictly for the Wicked" horrorcore festival there. McCroskey is believed to have met the teens at a previous show, and developed an online friendship with Emma Niederbrock.
Melanie Wells' mother in West Virginia called Farmville police and Mark Niederbrock when she hadn't heard from her daughter. In response, Farmville police did a so-called "welfare check" on the house late at night on Sept. 17. McCroskey answered the door and gave reasonable answers to the officer, who then left, according to police reports. Earlier that afternoon, Mark Niederbrock told a relative he was going to the house to make sure everything was okay. He was found dead in a different part of the house than the other victims, official sources said.
McCroskey, who is being held in jail without bond, has been charged only in connection with Mark Niederbrock's death and the items taken from him, including his car. Those charges are first-degree murder, robbery and grand larceny.
Sources tell CBS-6 that capital murder charges are expected to be filed in two weeks. A capital murder conviction can potentially lead to a death sentence.
Much in the case remains shrouded in mystery. Search warrants – which often provide many details about a crime - remain sealed in this quadruple murder case, the worst Farmville has seen.
It occurred within blocks of the Longwood University campus and dorms on a quiet, treelined street where students and nearby residents frequently jog or walk their dogs. The Kelley/Niederbrock home also adjoins a large playing field ofter used by university sports teams.