Pennsylvania man in ‘Scream’ mask killed neighbor with chain saw then went home to watch a movie, police say

A Pennsylvania man attacked and killed his neighbor this week using a knife and a chain saw while wearing a mask and costume like the one from the movie “Scream,” officials said.

The man, identified as Zak Moyer, 30, then returned home and watched a movie until police came, according to a criminal complaint from the Pennsylvania State Police.

Police said Moyer surrendered after the attack and was taken into custody without incident. He has been charged with criminal homicide and is being held at the Carbon County Correctional Facility.

Lehighton Borough police and later state police responded to an active assault incident Monday in Carbon County, in which a man attacked another man using a knife and chainsaw.

Officials found Edward Whitehead Jr., 59, who lived at the home, had been “struck” in the head with the weapons by a man who was “wearing a mask and a black costume-like garment, consistent with the ‘Scream’ movie character,” according to the criminal complaint.

Whitehead was taken to the hospital, where he died from his injuries, state police said. He had cuts on his right arm, on the right side of his head above his eyebrow and wounds on his hands that were “consistent with defensive wounds,” in addition to “a large bleeding wound to the right side of the head,” the complaint said.

Surveillance video showed the suspect leaving Whitehead’s home through the back door and entering the rear door of a home next door, where neighbors said Moyer lived, the complaint said.

Police established a perimeter around Moyer’s home and communicated with him through a notebook, the complaint said.

Moyer’s sister told police Monday that her brother told her a week ago that he wanted to kill Whitehead, according to the complaint.

According to the complaint, Moyer told police that he had gone to the family’s house Monday with a knife and a chain saw while wearing the “Scream” costume to scare them. Asked about the costume and weapons, police said Moyer admitted he had planned to kill Whitehead.

Moyer also admitted to stabbing Whitehead in the head, returning to his home to watch a movie until police arrived, and hiding the chain saw in the attic and the knife in his desk drawer, according to the criminal complaint.

Police said in news release that the investigation into the slaying is active but there is no threat to the surrounding community. 

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