The Richmond Times-Dispatch reported that the father of 18-year-old quadruple-homicide victim Melanie Wells came to Farmville on Wed., Sept. 16, two days before the bodies were found. He waited outside the house for seven hours and knocked several times, but never received an answer. According the missing persons report filed with the Berkeley County Sheriff's Office in West Virginia, Thomas G. Wells Jr. returned to Inwood after failing to reach his daughter.Wells, along with his wife Kathleen, made repeated phone calls on Thurs. and Fri. Sept. 17 and 18, in attempts to track down their daughter. Wells reportedly had at least two phone conversations with the suspect, Richard Samuel Alden McCroskey III, before the bodies were found and he became a suspect. According to the article, Berkeley County Sheriff's Lt. R.L. Gardner said, "Every time she spoke to him, he gave a different story," in reference to Kathleen Wells.
According to an article on Yahoo News, Dr. Debra S. Kelley and her daughter Emma Niederbrock, two of the four homicide victims, were attending counseling. Niederbrock had an obsession with horrorcore music and Kelley took her daughter to counseling to deal with the issue at hand. In the article, one of Kelley's former colleagues, James F. Hodgson, shared that Kelley was hoping that Emma was just "going through a phase." Hodgson had known Emma since she was about one-year-old. Kelley and her estranged husband Mark Niederbrock (the fourth victim) had separated about a year ago. Hodgson said all three were in therapy "trying to move though this."
Luther Glenn, a member of Walker's Presbyterian Church in Pamplin, confirmed that the family was in counseling. "Emma ruled the roost," Glenn said. Mark Niederbrock was the supply minister at the church for the past six years. He was a graduate of the Union Theological Seminary and Presbyterian School of Christian Education in Richmond and was in the process of becoming an ordained minister, according to an article from the Associated Press (AP).
Glenn also said Emma was being educated at home. She attended Prince Edward County Schools through middle school. Director of Support System for Prince Edward County Schools Richard Goode confirmed that Emma went on homebound education for high school, which is not the same as home-schooled.
According to the Virginia Department of Education Homebound Instructional Services Guidelines, homebound instruction is designed to provide continuity of educational services between the classroom and home or health care facility for students whose medical needs, both physical and psychiatric, do not allow school attendance for a limited period of time.Eligibility for homebound instruction is determined on the basis of medical evidence submitted by the licensed physician or the licensed clinical psychologist.
Emma met the murder suspect, McCroskey on MySpace. They enjoyed the same music and connected online. McCroskey was an aspiring rapper and used the website to promote the violence themed music. He and Emma started an online relationship, and he came down on Mon., Sept. 7 to attend a concert with Emma. McCroskey, Emma and Melanie attended the "Strictly for the Wicked" concert in Southgate, Michigan. He came back to stay in the Kelley's house in Farmville.
On September 6 Melanie's father visited the house. On Thurs., Sept. 17 Melanie's mother called Farmville police and the first welfare check was made, however police only go to the door. On Fri., Sept. 18 McCroskey called the police just before 1:00 a.m., complaining of a noise in the basement. The police came to examine the situation. The basement was the only part of the house they entered on that particular visit.
McCroskey crashed Mark Niederbrock's car at 4 a.m. Friday morning and was issued a summons for driving without a license. A tow truck driver dropped him of at the Sheetz on Main Street early Friday morning and the bodies were found at 505 First Avenue Friday afternoon. McCroskey called for a cab to Richmond International Airport (RIC) Friday afternoon. The cab he took came out of Charlottesville and was pulled over on the way to Richmond, but McCroskey was not arrested until he was inside RIC on Saturday morning.
McCroskey has been charged with the murder of Mark Niederbrock; however, autopsy reports have yet to confirm that McCroskey killed the other three victims. The cause of death for all four victims, according to the Medical Examiner's Office, was due to blunt force trauma. To date he has been charged with a single count of first-degree murder, in addition to robbery and grand larceny. His hearing is scheduled for Mon., Jan. 11, 2010.
