Farmville victims died from blunt force trauma
MARK GORMUS/TIMES-DISPATCH
Prince Edward prosecutor James R. Ennis said the quadruple slayings investigation is “coast to coast.“
Listen to Prince Edward Commonwealth’s Attorney James Ennis release information on the four victims of the Farmville attack.
Richard Samuel
Alden McCroskey III
The Prince Edward County prosecutor this morning officially confirmed the identities of four people found slain Friday in the home of a Longwood University professor and said the cause of death for each was blunt force trauma to the head.
Debra Sue Kelley, 53, an associate professor of sociology and criminal justice studies; her daughter, Emma Niederbrock, 16; and Emma’s friend, Melanie Grace Wells, 18, of Inwood, W.Va., were victims along with Kelley’s estranged husband, Pastor Mark Alan Niederbrock, 50, said Prince Edward Commonwealth’s Attorney James Ennis.
Niederbrock’s identity had been confirmed Saturday by police; the other victims had been named earlier by friends and associates.
Ennis said the medical examiner confirmed the identification of the victims yesterday and relatives were notified. He said preliminary autopsy reports list the cause of death for each victim as blunt force trauma.
Ennis declined to discuss what weapon may have been used or which day or days the victims were slain.
He said additional homicide charges are anticipated against Richard Samuel Alden McCroskey III, 20, of Castro Valley, Calif., who is the suspect in all four killings but was initially accused only in the death of Mark Niederbrock.
Those charges would come “at some point in the future, after forensics evidence results have been received and the evidence has been reviewed,“ Ennis said.
The prosecutor would not say what was found at either the Kelley home in Farmville or McCroskey’s residence in California. He also did not provide information on the McCroskey’s activities leading up to the killings.
The prosecutor said that Andres Shrim, a friend of McCroskey’s who owns a record label that specializes in horrorcore, the violent genre with which the suspect identified, had been interviewed. Shrim yesterday said he saw McCroskey at a Sept. 12 music festival in Michigan and that he doesn’t believe that he is guilty. Ennis did not say what was learned from the interview.
Ennis said there are no other suspects in the case.
“I really don’t have time to tell you the extent and scope that this investigation entails,“ the prosecutor said. “We are going coast to coast on this investigation and every lead is being followed as it develops.“
He credited “good police work” for the speed with which investigators have been able to act so far, and in identifying the victims.
Advertisement
Reader Reactions
so dandyandy when someone breaks into your home and beats you to death and the police respond to a call of a break in or someone is concerned because they cannot contact a loved one you think the police should just walk away when a stranger answers the door and cannot provide proper details or an explanation. i think there should have been some follow up considering we are talking about a missing persons report. and you don’t know me at all i think it’s perfectly fine for the police to cause someone an ‘'inconvenience’‘ when the facts do not look right until you can gather the facts that do. and i would not complain about that at all. i think the cop in the presidents friend situation did exactly the right thing. question, identify, make whatever effort is needed to contact the parties involved. how much evidence may have been destroyed or lost because of the delay in discovering this crime? we will never know! i hope they have enough to convict this loser.
That’s not a point and it is only obvious to a few of people who think they know more than the rest of us. People who think they have all of the answers are only kidding themselves. Evil can hide anywhere and can wear many disguises.
The evil you refer to, roobygyrl, wasn’t lurking in the minds of the killer & his friends - it was right out in plain sight. The parents were doing what they thought was right - well, obviously, they were wrong.
That’s the point.
All of you self-rightous,hindsight is 20-20, Monday morning quarterbacks make me sick. I raised a difficult daughter and there but for the grace of God go I. These parents were doing what they thought was the right thing for their child. Stop blaming them and direct your “Holier-than-Thou” attitudes toward each other…PLEASE….This is a tragedy, plain and simple and it could happen to anyone of us because who knows what evil lurks in the minds and souls of humans? Not me and certainly not any of you.
Is it possible that the “alleged” killer asked the police to come back and check the basement because he intended to kill them, too…but changed his mind or chickened out?
It is truly disturbing ... to read Longwood Alum’s comments.
You obviously understand nothing about being a good parent. Although my now-adult daughter is on her own, I would literally lay down on railroad tracks with a locomotive on its way, if it meant I could save her life. That’s true, unconditional love. Love is NOT enabling someone, ESPECIALLY a child or teenager, to go down the road to self-destruction with a S-worshipping (the site blocks out the word), violence-glorifying lifestyle & “music”. When your child is in danger, you TAKE ACTION. Would you allow your child to eat a box of D-Con? or drink a bottle of vodka right in front of you? or step out in front of a speeding truck? Of course not - you do NOT sit back, passively, thinking, oh well, they’re gonna do what they’re gonna do.
How did this 16-yr old get to the concerts? Where did she get her money? What car did she drive? Who paid for the insurance? SOMEONE was helping her to have the horrorcore lifestyle - her own parents! Lunacy.
I read that Hampton Roads article - full of more “non-judgmental” insanity from horrorcore maniac Shrim. Can you not understand that it’s part of his manipulation - to make it look like horrorcore is just another lifestyle choice, and if we want to be good parents, we “shouldn’t judge”. That’s ridiculous.
Read: “it was clear Emma was smitten with him. She had been sending McCroskey passionate messages on MySpace about his impending visit.‘
She was also looking forward to the Michigan festival, but complained in a post that her father, a Presbyterian minister, was coming along on the 16-hour drive. (WHAT?!?)
Andres Shrim, owner of the horrorcore label Serial Killin Records, said it was not uncommon for parents to accompany their children to these concerts.
“I mean, her father being a pastor, that proves he was a true Christian man,“ said Shrim, who raps under the name SickTanicK the Soulless about killing Christians. “The Bible says, ‘Judge not, lest ye be judged.‘ He knew that this was just entertainment. He may not have agreed with what statements we make, but that made him a good father. Because he was interested in being a part of his daughter’s life and the things SHE was interested in.“ “ http://hamptonroads.com/node/524478
So we’re supposed to believe a sick monster like this who loves to sing about rape & murder? Really? Because Shrim calls what Emma’s father did being a “good father”, we’re supposed to say, Ok, it’s all right then, it’s just music, it’s not important ... I don’t think so!
These parents were extremely foolish & naive, along with their “therapist”. This upsets me to no end. You’re right about one thing Longwood Alum - those people are dead, and nothing will bring them back. But life is about learning from mistakes, and these parents made many mistakes. Don’t even bother saying “don’t speak ill of the dead” - that’s not the point - there are memorial sites for people who want to make only positive comments about this family. Maybe some parents can really start thinking about what’s going on with their own children, and start making some changes if necessary.
The point is, what can parents do now to keep their children safe from harm? Take action, intervene, move if you have to, change schools (the mother actually home-schooled Emma, but how did this work if she was teaching at the college at the same time - seems like the teenager had lots of time on her own); send your child to a treatment facility (she had problems with alcohol & drugs too - surprise!); do WHATEVER IT TAKES. But do NOT help them bring death & destruction to their lives!
An excellent book about the journey of a drug-addicted self-destructive teenager, and the mother who loved her daughter enough to make some really hard choices, is “Come Back - A Mother & Daughter’s Journey Through (Heck) and Back”, by Claire & Mia Fontaine.
“since he was not the owner he could not refuse entry.“
Ah grasshopper, you’re absolutely wrong. In fact, on the contrary, since he is not the owner of the house, he could NOT authorize entry to the police. You would have stayed and continued to question him? What if after telling you that the owners were not at home, he simply closed the door? What would you have done then? Broken the door down? Beat him with a rubber hose until he “confessed”? Again, you want the police to do everything, until they do…then you complain about it.
dandy andy i would have stayed at the front door and continued to question sycho sam. like ask what movie they went too? and what theater? and when do you expect them to return? and can we try and reach them by cell phone? and when he could not answer or acted suspiciously i would have asked to enter and look around the home since he was not the owner he could not refuse entry. how about trying to contact the owner of the car he stole when they contacted him then. to make sure he was driving a car not registered to him legally? they had all kinds of probable cause someone is looking for their missing daughter and a complete stranger who is not a resident of the home answers the door and they take his word? i think the conflict between the presidents friend and the police a month or so ago has made the police too concerned about violating ‘'civil rights’‘ and clouds their judgment when it comes to how to handle a situation such as this. this kind of situation is exactly why the cop in the situation with the presidents friend stayed until he could identify the individual in the home as the resident.
It is truly disturbing to sit here and read all of the negative comments regarding Dr. Kelley and her “failure” as a parent. We can all sit here and analyze every aspect of what happened (or what we speculate that happened), but the fact is four people are now dead because of this monster. I had Dr. Kelley for numerous classes and had more respect and admiration for her than any other professor throughout my four years at Longwood. I do not know why the University chose to terminate her tenured post, but it’s really none of my business. I also cannot speak for her personal life because I was not there. And I can guarantee none of you (negative/demeaning posters) were there either. Obviously she was not perfect, as none of us are. But from the looks of these comments, we seem to have a number of people out there who have won the “Parent of the Year” award. Since so many of you are perfect, please share your secrets so that we can all be as perfect with raising our children as you seem to be! When you love your children, you do what you can to protect them while letting them explore and make some of their own mistakes. All you can do is hope that the right decisions are made. And in this situation, from what we KNOW (and not what people are ASSUMING), the best decisions were not made and tragically, four lives were lost. Berating Dr. Kelley and her parenting is absolutely disgusting. NO ONE knows every detail as to what was going on in their personal life, and sadly now no one will ever know. So sitting around bashing her is doing absolutely nothing. Their deaths cannot be “undone”.
Some of you may be interested in reading this article from the AP…
http://hamptonroads.com/node/524478
It speaks much more in-depth on Dr. Kelley’s views on her daughter’s musical interest and how she was as a parent. It also states that she resigned from the University.
Post a Comment(Requires free registration)
- Please avoid offensive, vulgar, or hateful language.
- Respect others.
- Use the "Flag Comment" link when necessary.
- See the Terms and Conditions for details.
Advertisement