Suspect's sister expresses remorse in Farmville slayings

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But in an e-mail yesterday, Sarah McCroskey described Richard Samuel Alden McCroskey III, who rapped about killing people and disposing of their remains, as a boyish 20-year-old man who avoided trouble, walked away from fights and would not have hurt anyone. Police arrested him Saturday at Richmond International Airport. A Prince Edward County judge appointed him an attorney yesterday at an initial hearing.

"He's sweet, he's talented, he's like the best brother anyone can ask for," she said in a later phone interview. She also apologized to the victims' families.

Early yesterday morning, she said, authorities in Alameda County, Calif., raided the home she shares with the suspect and their father, seizing their computers and other items, including a Halloween costume of Joey Jordison, drummer for the heavy-metal band Slipknot. Alameda officials confirmed they entered the house about 1:30 a.m. PDT while no one was home, and that they stayed until about 6 a.m.

"My house is trashed," Sarah McCroskey said. "It's upside down."

She said her grandmother's ashes are missing.

Farmville authorities still have not positively identified the four victims found Friday at the home of Longwood professor Debra S. Kelley, or discussed how they were killed. Police tentatively identified one of the victims as Kelley's husband, Mark Niederbrock, pastor at Walker's Presbyterian Church in Appomattox County.

Friends and associates identified the others as Kelley; her daughter, Emma Niederbrock; and Melanie Wells, a friend of Emma's visiting from West Virginia.

Police discovered the bodies Friday after an officer smelled what he believed was human decay. Officials say the victims might have been killed on different days, although they have not presented a timeline.

Investigators charged McCroskey with first-degree murder in the death of Mark Niederbrock, robbery of money from him and grand larceny of a 2000 Honda.

Authorities in Prince Edward issued McCroskey a summons about 4:20 a.m. Friday for driving without a license after he got a 2000 Honda stuck in a ditch on Poor House Road. Someone reported seeing a suspicious vehicle on Poor House Road.

Prince Edward sheriff's Sgt. Stuart Raybold said there was no reason for deputies to be suspicious. In a college town, he said, it's not unusual for someone to be driving another person's car.

"He told deputies he was going back to California in the very near future," Raybold added.

Elton Napier, owner of Napier's Towing, said he arrived to tow the car and gave McCroskey a ride to Sheetz, which authorities also confirmed. Napier said the man smelled like a dead animal, making Napier lean toward his open window.

"He smelled so bad it made me heave," Napier said. "I don't know what kind of smell it was. It was a strong smell."

Napier said he noticed that the front of the man's neck was covered with what appeared to be hickies, and when he asked the man about them, McCroskey told him his girlfriend had left them.

In Farmville yesterday, Prince Edward General District Judge Robert G. Woodson Jr. appointed defense attorney Cary B. Bowen of Richmond to represent McCroskey. The suspect appeared for the hearing by videocast from the Piedmont Regional Jail.

Officials said a court appearance was set for Jan. 11 at 10 a.m. unless there is a bond hearing before then. Bowen represented Ray Dandridge, who pleaded guilty to the deaths of the Harvey family and the Tucker/Baskerville family in Richmond in January 2006.

Bowen said he visited McCroskey yesterday at the jail and described his client, who has no known criminal record, as in shock.

"Twenty years old -- he's never been locked up before," Bowen said. "He's wrestling with it."

Bowen said it's possible prosecutors could charge him with capital murder. Prince Edward Commonwealth's Attorney James R. Ennis declined yesterday to discuss his plans.

Bowen also said McCroskey might have been using sarcasm when he told television cameras what sounded like "Jesus told me to do it" while he was being moved in police custody Saturday. They had found him sleeping in a baggage-claim area at Richmond International Airport waiting for a flight back to California.

McCroskey was visiting Emma Niederbrock, and they attended a music festival in Michigan on Sept. 12 with Wells, according to online friends and associates. McCroskey was a fan of the horrorcore genre, which is hip-hop music accompanied by violent lyrics.

Sarah McCroskey, 21, described their family as musically inclined. She said their father plays guitar and she used to play drums for a heavy-metal band. Their parents separated a couple of months ago, she said.

"I really don't think that the music had any influence on him," she said.

"I wish I could have been there for him way more then I was," her e-mail said. "I have never in my life felt completely helpless and alone."