VA - Couple & two teens found murdered, Farmville, 15 Sept 2009 #1

[majikposhun]

I agree that it is odd that they didn't search the rest of the house especially since it's already been stated that the reason they searched the house after mels mom called was due to a foul odor. This wasn't that long before they found the bodies, so why was there no foul odor before?

Perhpas they did in fact smell a foul odor - but remember the report syaing that the basement was full of animal feces - it is logical to think that they thought the odor was from that - or maybe they thought there was a dead animal down there somewhere - but it certainly seems to be "lazy" police officers to me.

 

[CW in NC]

Latest story about Mel's father waiting for her outside the house for 7 hours - just heartbreaking. I can't imagine what they went through - being angry and scared at the same time - feeling that something was horribly wrong but trying not to believe it.

http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/local/crime/article/FARM30_20090929-222402/296385/

I wonder if he called Police during the time he was there. After an hour or two and not being able to call his daughter on her cell phone and getting no answer at the house he must have figured something was seriously wrong.

Maybe he did call Police but there was nothing they could do until his daughter had been missing for 24/48 hours. If I drove 200 miles to pick up my daughter I just don't think I could leave until I figured out what was going on. Obviously I don't know all the details, so I'm not trying to judge I'm just trying to understand.

 

[gxm]

Hey everyone Im new =)
I saw this so i thought I would join up and give a little insight to this.
I Know all 3, Sam, Mel and Emma.
Sam was wearing the same clothingin his arrest video that i last saw him in at SFTW fest in Michigan.
Sam was way more involved with Wicked Intent than he was SKR. He was filming that night for WIR. He did the graphic and website work for WIR and was also their "Paparrazi"
Yes they were broken up at the show. I never once saw them speak or be near each other the whole entire night.
I do not think those were the "hickies" that i saw on his neck at SFTW. I have a pic of him that shows his hickies.
I thought Sam and Emma had made up based on her last comment to me saying SAM SAYS HIIIIIIIIII!
i had responded back to her asking her but it never got accepted =(

Hi piXy, and welcome to the board. Thanks for coming here to share your perspective.

My heart goes out to you and your friends who knew and loved the victims. Stay strong!

 

[gxm]

I wonder what this means:

police say they still haven't interviewed McCroskey and probably never will.

http://www.wdbj7.com/Global/story.asp?S=11228063

Why won't they interview him? I guess they have enough evidence....because his attorney will not allow it?

That would be my guess, the attorney won't let them near Sam.

Another interesting line from the article you have linked; the last line:

"Police say so far, his family has NOT come from California to visit him.

 

[Nikolai]

I wonder if he called Police during the time he was there. After an hour or two and not being able to call his daughter on her cell phone and getting no answer at the house he must have figured something was seriously wrong.

Maybe he did call Police but there was nothing they could do until his daughter had been missing for 24/48 hours. If I drove 200 miles to pick up my daughter I just don't think I could leave until I figured out what was going on. Obviously I don't know all the details, so I'm not trying to judge I'm just trying to understand.

I would have made a trip to local police to tell them Im supposed to pick my daughter up today from out of town and there is no answer at the house and she hasnt answered her phone. With that story maybe the police would have helped, maybe looked in or around the house.

 

[majikposhun]

I would have made a trip to local police to tell them Im supposed to pick my daughter up today from out of town and there is no answer at the house and she hasnt answered her phone. With that story maybe the police would have helped, maybe looked in or around the house.

hmm - I agree with you and have thought the same thing - but if she went "missing" as of the 16th at some point (since that is when she was expected home) and they went down there on the 17th - - that would have not been long enough to have filed a missing persons report and enough evidence for the police to have a search warrant for the house.

 

[gxm]

It could so easily have gone the way of Sam letting them in and killing them, too. Maybe because there were two of them.... God.

It's certainly interesting that he didn't let them in and kill them like he killed the pastor. Perhaps the pastor had a key and let himself in and Sam felt forced to kill him so that the dead bodies wouldn't be discovered. The Wellses may have escaped that fate because they were locked out of the house.

Or it could be that he didn't feel he could take on two people at once, since the police officers and the Wellses were not attacked. That would explain why he killed the women in their sleep. He didn't want to take chances on being overpowered.

One comment piXy made about the hickeys, she said that the marks on his neck in the booking photo are not the hickeys she saw at the concert. So I'm wondering what they are. Razor rash? Defensive wounds?

 

[Heroine]

It's certainly interesting that he didn't let them in and kill them like he killed the pastor. Perhaps the pastor had a key and let himself in and Sam felt forced to kill him so that the dead bodies wouldn't be discovered. The Wellses may have escaped that fate because they were locked out of the house.

Or it could be that he didn't feel he could take on two people at once, since the police officers and the Wellses were not attacked. That would explain why he killed the women in their sleep. He didn't want to take chances on being overpowered.

One comment piXy made about the hickeys, she said that the marks on his neck in the booking photo are not the hickeys she saw at the concert. So I'm wondering what they are. Razor rash? Defensive wounds?

You can see the hickeys in the pics I posted above from the show.They look like old hickeys to me. Also I'd like to add that judging by comments made it didn't look like Sam and Emma were serious until about April or so of this year.

 

[Gene]

Perhpas they did in fact smell a foul odor - but remember the report syaing that the basement was full of animal feces - it is logical to think that they thought the odor was from that - or maybe they thought there was a dead animal down there somewhere - but it certainly seems to be "lazy" police officers to me.

I keep thinking that if the police had gone to investigate instead of Niederbrock, he probably would have been alive today. It is a pity that the police were not activated sooner.

 

[forgottencash]

I think things were done a bit differently by the local police than would have been by many larger metropolitan police forces. I think they were more trusting of Sam than my local police would have been. I believe the police here may have asked for ID and searched the entire house. I also think the condition of the basement would have prompted them to go a step further and ask more questions about the owners whereabouts.

Also, it seems from the article that Mel's dad was alone.

Sam doesn't have to talk to anyone and I would imagine his lawyer will only let him speak if there is some sort of deal to be had, such as pleading guilty to 4 counts of murder in exchange for life in prison. He may be able to get a couple down to 2nd degree if there is no sign that he planned anything.

Since the MS timing is off, I would like to know PIXY's estimate of the time of Emma's last post to her.

Edited to add - I agree that the police were in a position to stop one murder and didn't. They will say what they have to and police reports will reflect what they need to in order for no fingers to be pointed, but the opportunity was there.

 

[Heroine]

I think things were done a bit differently by the local police than would have been by many larger metropolitan police forces. I think they were more trusting of Sam than my local police would have been. I believe the police here may have asked for ID and searched the entire house. I also think the condition of the basement would have prompted them to go a step further and ask more questions about the owners whereabouts.

Also, it seems from the article that Mel's dad was alone.

Sam doesn't have to talk to anyone and I would imagine his lawyer will only let him speak if there is some sort of deal to be had, such as pleading guilty to 4 counts of murder in exchange for life in prison. He may be able to get a couple down to 2nd degree if there is no sign that he planned anything.

Since the MS timing is off, I would like to know PIXY's estimate of the time of Emma's last post to her.

Well I'd like to think that the time is about 4 hours off. I say that because one post that Emma made she said it was 6:17 am and the time stamp on MS said 10:14am. I live about 40 minutes away from where Emma lived so you would think our times would be the same, so it has to be a myspace error.


heres the post i mean....
Sep 7 2009 10:14 PM
Awwwwwwwwwwwwwe baby<33
the next time you check your myspace, YOULL BE AT MY HOUSE!
mwahahah ><333333
i cant waiiiit to see you baby
its like 6:17AM, and ive been up since 4ish filled with uber amounts of excitment >.<
i cant wait
i leave to pick you up in f i v e hourse<3
gahh
U#@($QPERWODFSJO!!!!!!!!
my insides feel all squishy&#9829;
i love you sooo SO much baby; forever and for always :]]
MWAHHHx10<3

Edited to say i just noticed its pm instead of am on the myspace timestamp, so it's about 16 hours off?....could that be right? Wow, I wonder if all the times are that far off?

 

[CW in NC]

I keep thinking that if the police had gone to investigate instead of Niederbrock, he probably would have been alive today. It is a pity that the police were not activated sooner.

Yeah, that's kinda what I was getting at too. If he could have convinced police to come while he was there they could have probably figured out from the mothers car being there (I'm guessing she had a vehicle and it was in the garage) they probably would have had enough reason to think something was wrong and investigate further. Maybe they could have gotten him before he killed the father.

 

[gxm]

forgottencash, you're right. The article does make it sound like the father was alone. Earlier articles made it sound like both parents drove to Farmville. I'm not sure which is accurate.

 

[Heroine]

I think things were done a bit differently by the local police than would have been by many larger metropolitan police forces. I think they were more trusting of Sam than my local police would have been. I believe the police here may have asked for ID and searched the entire house. I also think the condition of the basement would have prompted them to go a step further and ask more questions about the owners whereabouts.

Also, it seems from the article that Mel's dad was alone.

Sam doesn't have to talk to anyone and I would imagine his lawyer will only let him speak if there is some sort of deal to be had, such as pleading guilty to 4 counts of murder in exchange for life in prison. He may be able to get a couple down to 2nd degree if there is no sign that he planned anything.

Since the MS timing is off, I would like to know PIXY's estimate of the time of Emma's last post to her.

Edited to add - I agree that the police were in a position to stop one murder and didn't. They will say what they have to and police reports will reflect what they need to in order for no fingers to be pointed, but the opportunity was there.

I agree that red flags should have gone off for the police, but if you think about it though, in these small towns in VA, if the family was well known which is highly possible, due to the jobs the parents had, they probably just assumed that anyone in their home was probably of good nature. I know that doesn't seem like a good excuse but where I live that's how the police are. Plus with him acting so calm, and actually calling the police himself, they probably never thought he would have done anything remotely like that. Stuff like that doesn't happen everyday around here.

 

[gxm]

I keep thinking that if the police had gone to investigate instead of Niederbrock, he probably would have been alive today. It is a pity that the police were not activated sooner.

I agree. LE may not have been able to prevent the first three deaths, but the pastor's death was avoidable.

I also agree with forgottencash, cops from a larger or more urban area probably would have asked Sam for ID and would have asked to check the entire house for intruders after the noise in the basement call. One time we called the cops because our front door was open when we came home. They would not let us into the house until they had gone in and made sure it was clear.

 

[Heroine]

I agree. LE may not have been able to prevent the first three deaths, but the pastor's death was avoidable.

I also agree with forgottencash, cops from a larger or more urban area probably would have asked Sam for ID and would have asked to check the entire house for intruders after the noise in the basement call. One time we called the cops because our front door was open when we came home. They would not let us into the house until they had gone in and made sure it was clear.

You know what I also thought about? I think maybe the bodies were upstairs, because if you notice the pics taken of the police taking pics you'll see them pointing the camera up towards the upstairs window. That's how I came to that conclusion. So if thats true then thats probably why sam came up with the idea of the basement, because he probably told them he was upstairs and he assumed if they did search they would only search downstairs. Of course I can't be sure of any of this, but thats my guess.

 

[thesaint]

Edited to add - I agree that the police were in a position to stop one murder and didn't. They will say what they have to and police reports will reflect what they need to in order for no fingers to be pointed, but the opportunity was there.

I might be off in my timeline, but I believe the father-pastor and all other victims were already dead by the time Wells calls the police and they make their first visit to the house around midnight Thursday (or 12 AM Friday morning).

 

[Heroine]

By the time being as off as it is just makes me wonder if all of our times are wrong. I wonder if everything on myspace is 16 hours off?
I wonder if this comment wasn't posted at 7:52 pm on sept. 14 if thats the case....
Sep 15 2009 11:52 AM

Dammmmnnnn that *advertiser censored**in blows.. but thats the **** you made more new friends i made SOO many that night haha and sam SAYS HIIIIII! lol
AWWWWWWWWWWWWWWE! pixy ur too *advertiser censored**in sweet! it was deffinitally a huge highlight for my night also :] gahh i cant wait till next year!! ill be driving next time mwahahha >:] haha
<33333

 

[thesaint]

Don't recall if this article has been linked to here yet, but it's fairly comprehensive and includes a few more details:

"Charlottesville cab driver Curtis Gibson pulled up to the Huddle House about 8:20 a.m. and tried calling the number McCroskey had left with the dispatcher. It went straight to voice mail, a girl's voice."


"The unfolding of a cruel crime in Farmville, and a strange one"

http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/local/crime/article/FARM27_20090926-221606/295789/

 

[Heroine]

Hmmm. Kuriuz is older and good-looking, IF he's the other man then Sam must have been crushed.

Which could mean that this time is also 16 hours off.