Man dressed in 'Scream' costume killed his neighbor with a chainsaw and knife, Pennsylvania police say

Pennsylvania police say a man killed his neighbor with a chainsaw while wearing the costume of the killer from the popular movie “Scream.”

Pennsylvania State Police Trooper Anthony Petroski told reporters in a media briefing that police found 59-year-old Edward Whitehead Jr. with life-threatening injuries on 3:30 p.m. on Monday.

“Edward Whitehead Jr. was struck multiple times with a knife and a battery-operated chainsaw,” said Petroski.

Whitehead was transported to St. Luke’s Carbon County Hospital, where he succumbed to his injuries.

Petroski said police were given 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,” he explained.

“Through investigation, we were able to develop a suspect. The suspect’s house had a perimeter around it, and through successful negotiation, the suspect exited and was taken into custody without an incident,” said Petroski.

Witnesses said that the suspect, 30-year-old Zak Moyer, was the next door neighbor to Whitehead.

“This was not just a random attack, they did know each other,” said Petroski.

Moyer had passed notes to the police while they were negotiating his surrender. The criminal complaint describes one of those notes that may explain his motivation in attacking his neighbor.

“Ed murdered women and kids. Eddie Junior murdered women and kids last summer,” the note allegedly read.

A criminal complaint said that Moyer admitted to stabbing Whitehead in the head with the knife and then returned to his home to watch a movie until police came for him. Police said that Moyer’s sister told them that he had been planning to kill the neighbor for a week before the crime.

Investigators said Moyer admitted to hiding the chainsaw in the attic and a knife in a drawer. They also found the black costume and the mask after obtaining a search warrant for his residence.

Moyer was charged with one count of criminal homicide and is being held at the Carbon County Correctional Facility. He had no prior criminal history in the court system in the state of Pennsylvania.

Neighbors said they were shocked by the incident because their neighborhood was usually quiet.