September 18th, 2009. Farmville, Virginia. Kathleen Wells hadn’t heard from her daughter, Melanie, for a few days and was worried. Melanie was staying in Virginia with her friend Emma Neiderbrock. Whenever Kathleen called Emma’s home, Richard McCroskey, Emma’s boyfriend, answered the phone and told various stories about where Melanie was. Kathleen called in a welfare check on the home on September 18. Inside the home, police found the bodies of four people. Questions arose. Was this a story of a jilted lover? Or was an intense interest in death and horror behind these murders?
Debra Sue Kelley Find a Grave 9/28/1955
Mark Alan Niederbrock Find a Grave 3/20/1959
Melanie G. Wells Find a Grave 2/13/1991
Emma Kelley Niederbrock Find a Grave 10/15/1992
Castro Valley’s “Syko Sam” Accused of Killing Four NBC Bay Area 9/20/2009
In-Depth Look at “SYKO SAM” WSET 9/20/2009
Rapper charged in Va. slaying SFGate 9/20/2009
Slain girl on Bay Area rapper’s MySpace SFGate 9/21/2009
Church Grapples with Loss of Pastor WSET 9/21/2009
Investigators probe “horrorcore” music in Farmville slayings WSLS 9/21/2009
McCroskey Had Spoken with Police Before Arrest WSET 9/21/2009
Gruesome Details Revealed in “Syko Sam” Killings NBC Bay Area 9/22/2009
‘Horrorcore’ killing suspect quiet, picked on SFGate 9/22/2009
Castro Valley’s Syko Sam” Obsessed with “Son of Sam” NBC Bay Area 9/23/2009
Quadruple-murder suspect’s sister had received death threats over Virginia slayings The Mercury News 9/25/2009
‘Syko Sam’ Allegedly Argued With Girlfriend CBS 5 9/26/2009
Timeline of Events Leading to the Arrest of Richard “Sam” McCoskey III in the Farmville Murders WTVR 9/28/2009 (Stuck car is on wrong day)
Father made futile trip to Farmville in search for slain daughter The News & Advance 9/30/2009
UPDATE: Details emerge about weapons used in Farmville killings Richmond Times-Dispatch 11/3/2009
Va. man pleads guilty to murders SFGate 9/20/2010
McCroskey pleads guilty in Farmville slayings Richmond Times-Dispatch 9/20/2010
McCroskey pleads guilty to Farmville murders, gets life in prison NBC 12 9/20/2010
McCroskey Sentenced to Life in Prison The Rotunda 9/21/2010
HOLMBERG: SykoSam letters from prison pretty much worthless, but telling WTVR 7/31/2012