USA: A Man Has Been Arrested In Connection To The Gruesome Murder Of His Girlfriend After Breakup In Delaware County, Pennsylvania. Police Caught Him Dismembering Her Beheaded Body With A Machete.

CBS Philly published February 11, 2022: Nicholas Scurria Killed Girlfriend, Dismembered Her Body At Clifton Heights Apartment: Police

The Daily Mail, UK

Pennsylvania man, 32, decapitated his girlfriend and is found by police dismembering her with a machete because he thought she was a 'threat to his masculinity' prosecutors say: Neighbors heard screaming and called 911

written by Alyssa Guzman and James Gordon

Saturday February 12, 2022

A man who was arrested for dismembering his girlfriend's body with a machete killed her because she was a 'threat to his masculinity,' prosecutors say.

Nicholas Scurria, 32, was taken into custody by police early Friday morning in Clifton Heights, Pennsylvania, five miles west of Philadelphia.

Police are now saying that Scurria killed his unidentified girlfriend 'in response to what the defendant perceived as a threat to his masculinity.'

'His actions were cowardly as well as evil, and he will be prosecuted to the full extent of the law,' Delaware County District Attorney Jack Stollsteimer said on Friday.

'This morning’s horrific murder is a sad reminder of the threat that many women face on a daily basis.'

Police rushed to the scene after being called in the middle of the night by Scurria's next-door neighbor at 4:40 a.m. after heading screaming and loud bangs coming through the walls.

A police report details how after a huge amount of noise between the couple, the place suddenly 'became quiet' before 'sawing-like sounds' and 'the gathering or shifting of plastic material' could then be heard.

The police affidavit shows a neighbor 'woke up to loud screaming in the neighboring apartment.'

Police arrived on the scene to find Scurria allegedly using a machete to saw off the left leg of his girlfriend's body, who had already been decapitated.

'Furthermore, the female victim was decapitated while lying on her back on the floor,' the affidavit stated.

Scurria was found sitting on a mattress as he carried out the bloody act as officers burst in with their weapons drawn.

A roll of plastic wrap was found next to her body.

'Police witnessed the suspect attempting to decapitate the already-deceased victim using a machete,' the report states.

Clifton Heights Police Chief Tim Rockenbach said the victim had suffered 'severe trauma to the head and neck.'

'I believe the intent was obviously to hide the crime,' Chief Rockenbach said to CBS3 of the plastic and the attempt to dismember the rest of her 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.

'I believe his intent was obviously to hide the crime. And we were able to get there before he was able to flee as a result of that 911 call,' Rockenbach said.

'Domestic violence is a major crime everywhere,' Rockenbach added. 'Sometimes a neighbor interceding allows us to solve a crime, stop a crime or prevent a crime from happening.'

Police took Scurria into custody at gunpoint.

'She tried to cut my balls off,' Scurria shouted at officers as he was being placed in handcuffs.

Later, Scurria told police that the couple, who shared the apartment together had got into a fight after their relationship had ended.

Scurria then allegedly brutally beat his girlfriend until she was unconscious.

'During the argument he knocked the victim unconscious after repeatedly striking her in the face/head areas,' before trying to hide and dismember her corpse, a police report states.

Once authorities were able to gain entry, they witnessed the suspect attempting to decapitate the already-deceased victim using a machete, according to the report.

Police say no drugs were found in the apartment. Scurria has had previous run-ins with law, having served 58 days in county jail for burglary in 2011, the Daily Beast reported.

Scurria has been charged with first-degree murder, third-degree murder, criminal possession of a weapon, and abuse of a corpse.

The Delaware County District Attorney's Office is continuing to investigate.

6abc Philadelphia published February 11, 2022: Police identify man found beheading ex-girlfriend in Pennsylvania

ABC6 News, Philadelphia local

Police identify man found beheading ex-girlfriend in Delaware County

written by Staff

Friday February 11, 2022

CLIFTON HEIGHTS, Pennsylvania (WPVI) -- A man has been arrested in connection to the gruesome murder of his ex-girlfriend in Delaware County, Pennsylvania.

Police were called to the Willow Apartments on the 400 block of Springfield Road in Clifton Heights around 4:15 a.m. Friday.

Police say a fight between the two turned deadly.

Arriving officers found Nicholas Scurria, 32, in the process of beheading the woman, according to police.

"It's shocking to me, and it's shocking to everybody else that this had to happen in our hometown," remarked Bill Mehok of Clifton Heights, who lives nearby.

Scurria was taken into custody.

The victim was pronounced dead at the scene.

"I've been an officer for 32 years, this is absolutely horrible," said Clifton Heights Police Chief Timothy Rockenbach. "I don't even know what words I could describe to you how actually incredibly insane this is, especially in my town."

Rockenbach and other officers are now haunted by what they saw inside the apartment.

"He saw a, uh, male," said Rockenbach. "He was dismembering the body of a female."

Police said Scurria had a number of weapons with him.

"One was described as a machete," said Rockenbach.

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.

"I believe the intent was obviously to hide the crime," Rockenbach said of the plastic and the attempt to dismember the body.

Police credit the neighbor who called to report the fight. They say the call prevented Scurria from getting away with the crime.

"Domestic violence is a major crime everywhere," said Rockenbach. "Sometimes a neighbor interceding allows us to solve a crime, stop a crime or prevent a crime from happening."

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.

UPDATE 2/19/22 at 1:18am: Added info below.

I came across this other domestic violence case from 2018. The man was recently sentenced in December 2021. The girlfriend he almost killed married him AFTER the violent assault and attempted murder. WOW! 😱 (emphasis mine)

FOX 2 Detroit published December 15, 2021: Bodybuilder gets 14 years in assault and torture case of woman he later married. Paul Bashe learned his fate today for the 2018 beating seen on home video of his then-girlfriend and now wife.

Click On Detroit | Local 4 | WDIV published August 3, 2018: Video shows Macomb County bodybuilder brutally attacking girlfriend. Surveillance video from inside a Washington Township home shows a bodybuilder brutally attacking his girlfriend Sunday.

WXYZ-TV Detroit | Channel 7 published September 26, 2018: Video shows bodybuilder's violent assault on woman who wants case dropped. "She was beaten within an inch of her life," said Macomb County Prosecutor Eric Smith about the woman Paul Bashi is accused of violently attacking in the couple's Washington Township home.

Tiffany Rigorsa published September 27, 2018: Washington Bodybuilder attacks GF. Fox2 news goes over the surveillance footage from inside the home showing 35-year-old Paul Bashi punching, kicking and throwing lit candles at 22-year-old Kristina Perry inside his rental home in Washington Township in late July. At one point in the video, his arm is covered in blood as he heaves a canister at Perry, who is pressed up against a wall and a couch.

National Domestic Violence Hotline:

1-800-799-7233