LEHIGHTON, Pa. -- We're following a disturbing story out of Carbon County, where State Police said a man wearing a mask from the horror movie "Scream" burst into his neighbor's home and then killed him with a knife and chainsaw.
Police responded to the scene Monday afternoon shortly after 3:30 p.m. on the 200 block of Carbon St. State Police had received reports of the gruesome crime.
"Edward Whitehead Junior was struck multiple times with a knife and a battery-operated chainsaw," said Trooper Anthony Petroski.
59-year-old Whitehead was rushed to St. Luke's Carbon County Hospital, but he didn't make it. Meanwhile, State Police were left with a very strange description of the attacker.
"The suspect was wearing an all-black outfit, consisting of a mask of the Scream character from a movie from a few years ago," said Trooper Petroski.
Pretty quickly, State Police determined the suspect was 30-year-old Zak Moyer, who lived right next door to Whitehead.
"This was not just a random attack. They did know each other," said Trooper Petroski.
A neighbor across the street provided us video where you can see police surrounding Moyer's house, and hear them calling for him to come out. At one point the neighbor who took the video zooms in on a note that Moyer is putting in the window for police to read. The police report said the note read "Ed murdered women and kids. Eddie Junior murdered women and kids last summer."
Whitehead has never been charged with murder, according to the Pennsylvania Court System, but State Police said the negotiations eventually worked.
"There was communications going on between him and troopers on-scene, and eventually he did open the door himself and exit on his own will," said Trooper Petroski.
In video provided by the same neighbor, you can see police arresting Moyer, who had clearly changed out of the Halloween costume and into a red hoodie. In the report, police said they interviewed Moyer's sister, who told them Moyer had been talking about killing Whitehead a week before the crime.
Moyer is now facing one charge of criminal homicide. Before this crime, Moyer had never been charged with a crime in the State of Pennsylvania, according to the court system. He's currently being held in the Carbon County Correctional Facility, and his preliminary hearing is scheduled for April 3.
