Sword and Scale Nightmares - Clown

Episode Date: August 14, 2024

Engulfed in the horrorcore scene, 20-year-old Richard McCroskey made a name for himself, singing about satanism, suicide, murder, and rape online. After releasing songs titled “Murderous Rage,” ��Infamy,” and “I Kill People for Real,” Richard made some internet friends of the same ilk. When Richard traveled halfway across the country to meet those friends in person, he learned that sometimes life imitates art.

At 3pm on September 17, 2009, the Farmville, Virginia police enter the house on 505 First Avenue. The ghastly smell of carrion greets them at the door as if the putrid stench needed to step out for fresh air. The officers call out, hello, but their words echo through the home without a reply. Blood covers the couch and the floor. Further into the house, an officer opens a door, exposing a stomach turning scene. Posing inside a first floor bedroom are three mangled and decomposing corpses. Welcome to Sword and Scale Nightmares. True crime for bedtime.

Where nightmare begins now. 20 year old Richard Samuel McCroskey was born and raised in Hayward, California, before moving to Castro Valley with his parents and older sister. Richard's father was a rock and roll guitarist and introduced his son to bands like Korn, Metallica, and Insane Clown Posse at an early age. High school was difficult for Richard. He was overweight, redheaded, and let's say, greasy. His oversized black rock and roll hoodies, loner behavior, and pale white skin gave him school shooter vibes, long before that term was even popular.

Despite his looks, McCroskey was shy, polite, and more or less a push around. Like most teenagers that felt like they didn't fit in, Richard took to the internet. Way back in the early 2000s, the social media of choice was MySpace, where Richard discovered he belonged. Under the personas Psycho Sam and Lil Demon Dog, he entered the Horrorcore scene through an insane clown posse chatroom. Horrorcore is a subgenre of hip hop that often pushes themes of death, mental illness, satanism, suicide, murder, rape, drug abuse, and all the other things that teenagers are interested in.

Richard derived his alter ego, Psycho Sam, from the son of Sam. You know him. You're here, so you must know him. American serial killer David Berkowitz is who I'm talking about, of course. Richard began writing rap songs at 17, and his first entirely produced song was titled My Dark Side. Other psychosam releases included Infamy, Burning Churches,ous rage, sick minds think alike, and the voices. Oh boy, to be a young angst-ridden teenager again, what I would give.

Psycho Sam's first EP was titled, I Kill People For Real. In the music videos he released on his Lil' Demon Dog YouTube channel, he referred to evil voices in his head telling him to murder continuously and, quote, take lives on a killing spree, end quote. While his online persona bloomed, Richard's real life fell apart. He dropped out of Tennyson High School in Hayward before transferring to Hayward High School, which didn't last long either. Psycho Sam was confident, calm, and jaw-dropping online, but Richard was the same shy, goofy-looking

kid. When he was 19, while connecting with the horror core community, Richard met two women that changed his life forever. 16 year old Emma Niederbrock, who went by the alias Ragdoll, lived across the United States from Richard in Farmville, Virginia. Emma was homeschooled nearly her entire life. Her father was a pastor, and her mother was a criminal justice professor. Emma took to horror core as a way of rebelling

against her super conservative parents. Emma dyed her hair pink, started wearing all black and smoking cigarettes, which rattled her parents so profoundly that the three regularly attended family counseling for it. Like Richard, and again like most teenagers, Emma felt alone in the world. Emma wasn't weird like Richard, but being homeschooled for so long had isolated her from those her age. A friend in the horror course scene linked Emma with 18-year-old high school dropout Melanie Wells, aka Mrs. Free Abortions.

She came up with the name, not me, by the way. Melanie listed her interests as cigarettes, alcohol, lust, blood and gore and, oh get this, open graves. Don't you just love them? A poem on the front page of Melanie's MySpace read, quote, You're screaming and bleeding, lying on the floor. I can't help it, I'm aching for more, gore. Slowly I make an incision in your main artery. I feel the blood rush gush all over my body. It's going deeper and deeper, your life is slowly fading.

Your eyes roll back and your body starts shaking." That doesn't even rhyme. Richard, Melanie, and Emma bonded over their love of horrorcore, the occult and everything disturbing. Richard took a particular interest in Emma, considering her his online girlfriend. The two went back and forth for nearly a year posting to one another. Richard made multiple videos dedicated to his ragdoll, showing her his disgustingly dirty room with walls covered in band posters and weapons. But in April of 2009, Richard's life fell further apart when his father kicked his mother

out of the house. To soothe his broken heart and hide from his broken home, he dove deeper into his online persona, and more importantly, his relationship with Emma. Emma loved Psycho Sam, and Richard loved Ragdoll. That's when Richard, Emma, and Melanie prepared to meet in person. The trio planned on attending the Strictly for the Wicked music festival in Michigan on September 12th. That left Emma with just one obstacle. Her parents hated horrorcore music and would never approve of her going. So, the teen girl developed a plan. Emma Niederbrock and her friends Richard and Melanie planned on attending the Strictly for the Wicked music festival in Michigan on September 12, 2009.

The only problem was that Emma's parents wouldn't allow it. After long screaming matches and some family counseling, Debra and Mark agreed to let Emma go on the following conditions. First, Mark and Debra would chaperone the concert. Second, if Richard and Melanie wanted to tag along, they must stay under her supervision at Dubbers' house. With everyone in agreement, the trio set their plan into motion. The night Richard flew out, Emma wrote on his wall,

The next time you check your MySpace, you'll be at my house. I love you so, so much, baby. Forever and always. You are my one and only everything. I can't wait to see you, baby. It's like 6, 17 a.m. And I've been here since 4-ish, filled with uber amounts of excitement. I can't wait.

I leave to pick you up in five hours. Gah! My insides feel all squishy. Excitement I can't wait. I leave to pick you up in five hours guy My insides feel all squishy That's squishy feeling kind of faded when Richard landed though Richard was not his online persona He acted shy Timid and he was considerably less physically attractive in person than he portrayed online. Emma expected a rapper that spoke about murdering people and instead, she got an overweight, mousy boy that seemed to belong on 4chan or Reddit.

As a result, the loving welcome that Richard expected never came. Richard, Emma, Melanie, Mark, and Debra drove from Virginia to Michigan for 10 hours. That said a lot about Mark and Debra's mindset. They hated horrorcore music. Mark was a pastor, for God's sake. Not to mention, Mark and Deborah separated only months before. Those wounds were fresh, yet they came together to ensure Emma stayed safe. When they arrived, Emma posted to her MySpace, talk about a long ass drive, sharing a car with a preacher. It's gonna suck, but no doubt is it worth it. Many of the trio's friends were at the festival and claimed to have seen Emma and Melanie having a blast together. Richard, on the other hand, was on his own.

Emma's friends even claimed she went out of her way to avoid him. Richard's sister heard through the grapevine that they fought over their relationship. Richard thought the two were in an exclusive relationship, while Emma had been telling people he was just an internet friend. During the ride home from the festival, it was made clear that the dynamic between the trio was slightly off. At 2.43 a.m. on September 14, 2009, Melanie posted to her MySpace that she would be home

on the 16th and that she missed people. In the middle of the night on September 15th, 2009. Long after everyone had fallen asleep, Richard entered the backyard. He was beyond frustrated, filled with explosive rage. Emma invited Richard. He took a long and expensive flight just for her to turn around and treat him like shit. He thought to himself, so what if he was a little different in person than online?

So was she. That was when he noticed something in the woodpile. A sizable wood-splitting maul implanted in a stump. Richard examined the maul. Larger and longer than a standard axe. The head split in two. A sharp, thin blade on one side and a sledgehammer on the other. If what Emma wanted was psychosam, Richard would give her Psycho Sam.

So Richard picks up them all, feeling the weight of it in his hand. It's heavy. They won't have a chance to fight back. He walks the yard headed towards the house. The home looks scary in the moonlight, fitting for what's about to happen. He turns the knob and shoulders the door open, slowly. The house is so silent that Richard can hear his own heartbeat, broken up by his nearly silent steps. He proceeds to the living room couch, hefting the mall onto his shoulder. The all-encompassing darkness makes the room feel

alive. He narrows his eyes to examine the silhouette of the girl passed out on the couch. Richard thinks about how the girl below him pretended to be his friend, one of his only friends in the whole world, yet she treated him like shit, just like everyone else. He burns a hole in the sleeping girl with his gaze, but Melanie doesn't stir. She's completely unaware. Richard raises the maul high, widening his legs for balance. And down it comes.

The maul lands with a crack, splitting her skull like wood. Melanie doesn't have a chance to make a sound or lift a hand. Richard pulls the mall's handle, loosening its head from Melanie's. He brings them all down repeatedly, passing through Melanie and onto the couch cushions. Melanie's mangled pieces become one with the sofa. Next Richard walks to the upstairs bedroom. One of the three women in the house, Deborah, is the least guilty. Deborah has been kind to him, has fed him, has opened up her home to him with open arms.

Richard wonders, does Debra know how her daughter has hurt him so deeply? No. Debra is as guilty as the rest. Guilty by association. He steps closer to the bed, the moonlight beaming off the Maul's blade. Richard brings down the Maul in a swift, calculated motion. The blade is embedded deep into the bone. Deborah makes no pleas for mercy, not that they would matter anyway.

He swings again, the blade landing with a crack and again this time with a thud as it slides through the soft tissue. He finishes when Deborah no longer looks human. In the moonlight Richard examines the blood sprinkling his arms, hoodie, and jeans. He reaches up and wipes his face, wiping away what might be sweat, but probably isn't. He stumbles down toward Emma's room. The maul is heavy in his tired hands, much heavier than when he first began. Richard stands over Emma, wondering if he should wake her and tell her why this has to happen. He has no doubt she would struggle, scream, and fight for her life at the sight of her blood-soaked

internet acquaintance. He's ready to finish this once and for all. The mall cuts an arc through the air, cutting deep through fabric and flesh. The maul buries itself so deep in Emma's chest, the head disappears. As soon as the blade comes free, a whistling sound escapes Emma's chest, followed by an eruption of blood. Richard sends it down on Emma's face. Emma's blood leaks down all over the side of the bed, pooling around Richard's shoes. He abandons the mall and walks to the living room. Richard picks up his phone and clicks record. In the recording, Richard addresses whoever may find it. He apologizes, claiming

he lost his mind and snapped. He asks the viewer to tell his parents that he loves them. Richard ends the recording with, fuck you to the big world. Fuck everybody in the world. I can't stand this place. On September 17th, Melanie's father drives to Farmville and knocks on the door at 11am. No one answers. So he waits and waits and waits for 8 hours. Melanie's parents call her and Emma's phones and even contact her online friends. Eventually, Melanie's parents speak with Richard, who tells them that she and Emma went to a movie and would be back eventually. Melanie's parents call Mark, who agrees to check it out.

Mark uses his key to unlock Deborah's front door and walks in while calling out for his family. As Mark walks into the living room, he catches a glimpse of the massacre before everything goes black. Richard strikes Mark hard from behind with the maul, knocking him unconscious and onto the floor. Although Mark no longer poses a threat, Richard continues to hit him until he destroys the hardwood floor beneath his body.

With that last swing, Richard becomes Psycho Sam for real. When Melanie's parents fail to hear back from Mark, they call the Farmville Police Department. A Sergeant approaches the Niederbrock house, and Richard opens the door. Richard tells the officer that Emma and Melanie were out at a movie and would be back soon. Richard explains that the girls had gone to Richmond the night before and their car broke down. He also tells the officer that Melanie isn't responding because her phone stopped working.

Without knowing that there are multiple bodies just feet away and content with his answers, the police officer leaves. Melanie's parents send the police back to the house again and Richard answers the door again. He gives the police officers another story about the movies and without searching the home they just leave. Melanie's mom continues calling the house until Richard answers.

This time he simply says the girls can't come to the phone. Oddly enough, Richard tells her strange noises are coming from inside the basement. Melanie's mother instructs him to call 911 and he does. When the operator answers the phone, Richard says, Hey, could I have a police unit come by my house? Because I keep hearing sounds coming from the basement and I'm scared to go down and check what it is. Richard explains that the noises sound like something is moving down there and that they have a few dogs. He tells the

officer that his name is Sam and it's his girlfriend's house Richard lets the officer into the basement through a side door and they search together but find nothing For the third time now the police leave a murder scene with bodies in it without exploring without even looking around without a clue on September 17th Richard calls home and leaves his family a voicemail Telling them he loves them With Emma gone. He has no reason to live anyway

surrounded by Mark and Melanie's bodies Richard picks up the phone and records his goodbye Richard begins the recording by stating it is his final minutes of being alive. He tells his parents that he loves them and that he is sorry. Richard claims he has to do what he has to do, pointing to the stairs and alluding to killing himself. He finishes the recording by saying, so my last words before I go, fuck you to the world. Fuck everybody in it. I can't stand this place.

Fuck your god. Richard moves Mark and Melanie's bodies to Emma's bedroom and poses them together. The On September 18, 2009, Melanie's mother harassed the Farmville police enough that they agreed to recheck the house. Upon approaching the front door, the smell of death engulfed them. The officers found the bodies of Mark, Melanie, and Emma in Emma's bedroom. The bodies were mutilated and unidentifiable. They discovered Deborah's body in her bedroom, separated from her family. Each of Richard's victims died from blunt force trauma, and none had even a single defensive

wound. Richard was nowhere to be found. Earlier that morning Richard fled Farmville in Mark's 2000 Honda. While on the run, Richard crashed the Honda, leaving him stuck on the side of the road. He sat contemplating what to do when he heard a whooping sound of a police car. The sheriff's deputy had been driving down the road and he noticed Richard's predicament and stopped to check it out. As the deputy approached the vehicle, Richard turned into...

Psycho Sam, yet again. Richard introduced himself as Sam and explained that he had borrowed the car. After some charm, the officer gave Richard a citation for driving without a license and called him a tow truck. The truck driver noticed Richard had red marks covering his neck. When asked about it, Richard claimed they were hickeys from his girlfriend. The tow truck dropped Richard off at a convenience store around 6 a.m. When police spoke to the driver, he said Richard stunk

like the devil. From the convenience store, Richard hailed a cab to take him to the Richmond International Airport. Police pulled over that taxi cab for speeding with Richard in the back. Richard calmly exited the cab, lit a cigarette, and smoked on the sidewalk while the taxi driver figured it out. While Richard escaped, he called a few friends to brag about what he had done. Richard's friend, Andre Shrimm, who went by Sick Tanik the soulless, called the Farmville police and told them Richard confessed to killing someone. In response, police spread pictures of Richard across Virginia. Richard had tickets to fly home, but they weren't for two days. He attempted to buy an earlier ticket, but couldn't afford it. At 1130 a.m. on September 19, 2009,

airport security spotted Richard sleeping in the baggage claim area. That area of the airport was completely empty other than the snoring boy. Richard had pulled his legs and arms into his oversized hoodie creating a human cocoon, and a team of police officers calmly approached him without their guns drawn. Richard stood up and the officers frisked him before walking him out on his own accord. The prosecutors charged Richard with first-degree murder, robbery, and grand larceny, but later changed the charges to six counts of capital murder. Richard refused to cooperate with the investigation and in in return, police stuck him in the Piedmont

Regional Jail on suicide watch. The guards stripped Richard naked and dressed him in a smock made of tear-resistant, thick material. He received no books, TV, bed, or blankets. Richard had to eat his meals with his hands. Richard accepted a plea deal from that cell, exchanging four guilty pleas for life in prison. Richard waved his right to appeal, and while walking to his prison transport van, he actually smiled.

Imagine that. The first time, perhaps in a long time, that this person is happy is after brutally murdering people, then getting caught. Richard spent his years in several prisons, including Wallins Ridge State Prison and Indian Creek Prison. In 2019, one of Richard's cellmates, Peewee, gave an interview describing life locked in

a cell together. According to Peewee, Richard, now an adult, introduced himself as Psycho Sam. Peewee sized him up on the first night, calling Richard gumpy and weak. Peewee claimed Richard was forthcoming about why he was incarcerated and genuinely sounded remorseful. Inmates bullied Richard, isolated, and disrespected him because he killed the young girls as they slept. According to Peewee, Richard bunks with many men serving short sentences for both of their

securities. Richard spent his time mentoring them and sharing his words of wisdom. And the words of wisdom were, life is too short to make impulsive decisions that ruin your life. If you enjoyed the show, please consider joining PLUS at swordandscale.com slash PLUS. But if you can't, consider leaving us a positive review on your preferred listening platform. Sweet dreams and good night.