Zak Russel Moyer (Carbon County Jail) and police on the scene outside of his home (WFMZ screenshots)
A 30-year-old man in Pennsylvania is accused of murdering his next-door neighbor earlier this week, going over to the victim’s home in the middle of the afternoon dressed as the killer from the “Scream” movie franchise and killing the other man with knife and chainsaw injuries to the head.
Zak Russel Moyer was taken into custody on Monday and charged with one count of criminal homicide in the slaying of 59-year-old Edward Whitehead Jr., court records reviewed by Law&Crime show.
According to a news release from the Pennsylvania State Police, troopers at about 3:34 p.m. on Monday responded to a request for assistance from the Lehighton Borough Police Department. Officers from Lehighton Borough had been dispatched to a residence in the 200 block of Carbon Street regarding an active assault in which the victim was being attacked by an assailant wielding a knife and a chainsaw.
Upon arriving at the scene, troopers learned that the victim had been identified as Whitehead, who appeared to have been suffered knife and chainsaw wounds to his head.
Whitehead was transported to St. Luke’s Hospital – Cabon Campus for treatment, but succumbed to his injuries and was pronounced dead shortly after arriving at the facility. Police said he had suffered a large puncture wound to the right side of his head and what appeared to be defensive wounds on his hands, among other injuries.
At the request of the Carbon County District Attorney’s Office, detectives with the State Police Troop N Major Case Team assumed control of the investigation.
According to a probable cause affidavit obtained by Lehigh Valley Live, troopers obtained security camera footage from the area and made a shocking revelation.
Troopers reportedly said Whitehead had been “struck with a chainsaw and a knife in the head by a male who was observed on surveillance video footage.” The assailant, who was described in the affidavit as a man “wearing a mask and a black costume-like garment consistent with the ‘Scream’ movie character,” then exited the back door of Whitehead’s home.
Troopers were able to track the alleged killer back to Moyer’s home, which is next door to Whitehead.
Moyer reportedly communicated with authorities outside his home using a notebook he held up to his window, writing messages alleging that Whitehead had recently committed several crimes.
According to footage that a neighbor provided to Allentown, Pennsylvania, news station WFMZ, while troopers were outside of Moyer’s home, he held up a handwritten sign that read, “Ed murdered women and kids. Eddie Junior murdered women and kids last summer.”
Investigators said there is no evidence that Whitehead had committed any crimes.
After brief negotiations, Moyer was taken into custody without incident.
He allegedly admitted that he had donned the costume and went to Whitehead’s home with a knife and chainsaw “for the purpose of scaring him,” but later confessed he went to the home with the intention of killing his neighbor. Additionally, Moyer allegedly admitted that after the killing, he went home and hid the knife and chainsaw, then put on a movie as he waited for the police to arrive
Moyer’s sister told police that about a week before the attack, her brother said that “he wanted to kill Ed the neighbor,” Lehigh Valley Live reported.
Moyer is currently being held in the Carbon County Jail without bond and is currently scheduled to appear in court for his preliminary hearing on April 3.
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