Horrorcore: Syko Sam Kills Woman and Daughter

Written by OddCulture on September 23rd, 2009 in Odd Crime.

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syko_sam

From the AP:

A criminal justice professor and her daughter, who police say were slain by a horrorcore rapper, were in counseling over the teenager’s obsession with the macabre music, and the mother took her daughter to the concerts to keep an eye on her, a family friend said Wednesday. Debra Kelley, 53, an associate professor at Longwood University, was hoping that Emma Niederbrock was just “going through a phase,” said James F. Hodgson, a former colleague who had known Emma since she was about 1 year old. He said Kelley took her to horrorcore concerts, which feature artists who rhyme violent lyrics over hip-hop beats, in Michigan and Illinois. “She’s either going to go on her own or I go with her and make sure she’s OK,” Hodgson said of Kelley’s reasoning. “She said that she needed to be there for her, and that she was going to grow out of this.”

Debra Kelley

Kelley and Emma were found bludgeoned to death Friday at their Farmville home in central Virginia along with Kelley’s estranged husband and Emma’s father, the Rev. Mark Niederbrock, 50, and Emma’s friend Melanie Wells, 18, of Inwood, W.Va. Police have charged Emma’s boyfriend, Richard “Sammy” McCroskey III, 20, of Castro Valley, Calif., with first-degree murder in Mark Niederbrock’s death. McCroskey, who rapped under the name Syko Sam, is also suspected in the other killings.

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McCroskey and Emma, who went by “RagD0LL” online, appear to have met through the underground horrorcore scene. Authorities believe the killings occurred shortly after the group returned from the Sept. 12 concert in Southgate, Mich. McCroskey’s sister, Sarah, said her brother’s friends told her that he and Emma had some kind of falling out at the concert. Hodgson said Kelley, who specialized in violence against women but has taught classes in homicide, had been struggling since Emma got into horrorcore a couple of years ago. She and her husband separated about a year ago, and all three were in therapy “trying to move through this.”

ragdoll

Syko Sam’s MySpace page, which has since been removed, contained links to horrorcore label Wiked Intent Records, which recently shutdown, giving this message:

With the recent events in Virginia that have shaken this scene, the Wicked Intent websites will be temporarily closed. We appreciate your support, but out of respect for the fallen and their families will not be accessible at this time. A senseless crime has been comitted[sic] and Wicked Intent does not condone nor endorse these actions in anyway shape or form. We are just as shocked as everyone else and are disgusted by the recent findings. We send out our condolences to all effected by this sensless[sic] act.

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Son of Sam

Source: NBC

New and chilling details are surfacing about the Castro Valley man who is accused of killing four people in Farmville, Virginia. McCroskey’s sister, Sarah, described him as a kind person who never fought back when people picked on him. “He was extremely passive,” Sara said, “so just hearing that my brother is the main suspect just really blows my mind.” McCroskey’s father played guitar in a band called S&M. Sarah McCroskey says the family was not a “lovey-dovey … ‘Leave It To Beaver’ kind of family.” She said she thought something might be wrong after she heard a voice mail her brother left at the family’s house last Thursday that ended with “I love you guys.” McCroskey was known as “Syko Sam” to the Web world because of what is being described as an obsession with notorious serial killer “Son of Sam.” His MySpace page features his raps about killing, maiming and mutilating people. On his YouTube channel, McCroskey goes under the name “Lil Demon Dog.” That is another reference to serial killer David Berkowitz.

He also posted a video of himself after he flipped over a cross on the grave of a U.S. Marine.

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As deputies escorted McCroskey to the police station Saturday after his arrest at the Richmond airport, McCroskey was asked by a reporter why he did it. He said, “Jesus told me to do it,” WRIC television reported. McCroskey has not cooperated with police since his arrest on Saturday. Police found him napping in the baggage area of an airport waiting to fly back home to the Bay Area.