from Associated Press
September 21, 2009

FARMVILLE, Va. — An aspiring California rapper suspected in the slayings of a Virginia pastor and three other people will remain in jail following his first court appearance.

Richard Alden Samuel McCroskey III appeared Monday by video conference in Prince Edward County court. He was given a court-appointed attorney and a preliminary hearing was set for Jan. 11.

McCroskey is charged with murder in the death of Mark Niederbrock, a pastor at a Presbyterian church in central Virginia. Niederbrock was one of four people found dead Friday at the home of a college professor in Farmville, about 50 miles west of Richmond.

The 20-year-old McCroskey raps under the name Syko Sam in the horrorcore genre, which sets violent lyrics to hip-hop beats.

McCroskey was arrested at the Richmond airport Saturday.

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