Nicholas Scurria Clifton Heights Pennsylvania man dismembers ex girlfriend during argument at their former shared home.
A Delaware County, Pennsylvania man has been arrested after police responded to a domestic incident only to happen upon him in the process of decapitating a woman, since identified as his ex girlfriend.
Booked with murder was Nicholas Scurria, 32 of Clifton Heights. The identity of the victim wasn’t immediately known.
Cops were called to the residence on the 400 block of Springfield Ave, after neighbors heard a ‘commotion’ around 4.15 am Friday morning. The commotion was described as screaming at the apartment along with ‘sawing like’ sounds.
Arriving officers found Scurria in the process of beheading the woman as they entered the former couple’s home according to WPVI-TV.
Upon arriving at the scene, authorities said they knocked on the door of the unit and did not get a response from anyone inside. One of the officers then looked through one of the side windows of the home where he saw what appeared to be a man cutting off a woman’s head inside, WPHL-TV reported.
Verbal fight that escalated
The officers on the scene then forced their way into the apartment, reportedly kicking in the front door and the window to gain entry. Upon entering the apartment, the officers reportedly walked into a macabre scene. The male suspect was reportedly using a machete to try and chop the head off of a female victim.
Officers disarmed Scurria and took him into custody. He reportedly surrendered without incident after police forced their way inside. The female victim was pronounced dead on the scene. Several witnesses to the incident told WTXF that they heard police shouting commands at the suspect prior to breaking down the door.
‘I heard the cops yelling, telling somebody, ‘Don’t move. Don’t move,” a witness told the station. ‘About four or five cops kicked the door in, and this is the result,’ he added.
It is thought that domestic violence ensued following a verbal fight escalating at the home.
Clifton Heights Police Department Chief Tim Rockenbach reportedly said that the victim was already deceased when the suspect allegedly attempted the beheading, per WTFX. Chief Rockenbach reportedly said the victim had suffered ‘severe trauma to the head and neck.’
Police recovered a machete from the scene of the homicide believed to be the murder weapon. Multiple other weapons were also recovered from inside the apartment, according to KYW-TV.
Officers say Scurria was using the machete to cut the victim’s leg. Police saw the woman’s decapitated body with rolled-up plastic nearby.
Responding officers left needing psychological counseling
‘I believe the intent was obviously to hide the crime,’ Chief Timothy Rockenbach said of the plastic and the attempt to dismember the body.
‘I’ve been an officer for 32 years, this is absolutely horrible,’ Rockenbach added. ‘I don’t even know what words I could describe to you how actually incredibly insane this is, especially in my town.’
Chief Rockenbach emphasized that the investigation into the homicide is ongoing, but noted that the responding officers who witnessed the attempted beheading would receive counseling from a mental health professional.
Scurria was arraigned and charged with first-degree murder, third-degree murder and abuse of a corpse. He is being held in prison.
The Delaware County District Attorney’s Office is continuing to investigate.
