Horrorcore singer Richard McCroskey arrested over Niederbrock slaying

Horrorcore singer Richard McCroskey (a.k.a. Syko Sam) has been arrested and charged in relation to the murder of four people in Virginia two weeks ago.

In a slaying that made national headlines, Presbyterian Church Mark Niederbrock, his 16-year-old daughter Emma Niederbrock, Mark Niederbrock’s estranged wife Debra Kelley and Melanie Wells, a friend of Emma’s were found bludgeoned to death in a crime scene that local police describe at the most gruesome they have ever seen.

Richard McCroskey is believed to have been romantically linked to Emma Niederbrock, who was a fan of Horrorcore, a subgenre of hip hop music based in horror-themed lyrical content and imagery. The link between Horrorcore and the slaying is being made as a typical horrorcore work includes lyrics that discuss mass murder and gruesome slayings.

In McCroskey’s case though, it wasn’t just an incidental link: according to CNN in one YouTube video, he holds a hatchet and sings about killing people and putting their remains in black bags: “Last night I was the murderous rage. Now, I gotta get rid of the bodies before the corpses start to get to rotting.”