Man Attacked Elderly Roommate In The Shower With Machete Before Killing Himself In Shocking Murder-Suicide

A Moundville man reportedly killed his elderly roommate in the shower with a machete before proceeding to shoot himself in the head with a .45 caliber handgun belonging to the victim in a gruesome suspected murder-suicide on Saturday, Sept. 25.

On Saturday, at around 2 p.m., Nicholas Ryan White, 40, reportedly ambushed and murdered Thomas Neal McKeever, 71, with a machete while the victim was taking a shower at their residence at 1409 Second Street. After killing McKeever, White obtained a .45 caliber handgun from the victim's room and shot himself in the head, Law & Crime reported.

The attack was reportedly witnessed by a woman and another man who were also tenants of the house. The duo tried to intervene and stop the violent confrontation but was easily overpowered by White. Marshall County 911 received a frantic and screaming phone call from the woman witness while White brutally knifed McKeever. Police officers were immediately dispatched to the spot.

However, by the time law enforcement reached the spot, they discovered White already dead from his self-inflicted gunshot wound. Meanwhile, McKeever was reportedly found still clinging to his life but later succumbed to his fatal injuries, the Times Leader reported.

“From witness interviews and the evidence, it appears 40-year-old Nicholas White attacked 71-year-old Thomas McKeever while he was taking a shower with a machete,” Moundsville Police Lieutenant Steve Kosek said. “Mr. White also used a knife, and then he later took his own life with a .45 caliber handgun, which belonged to Mr. McKeever.”

Kosek did not address White's motive behind the gruesome murder but stated that it was found that the suspect had a history of mental health and substance abuse problems.

“McKeever was clinging to life as police arrived, but he expired shortly thereafter. He was repeatedly struck with a machete, and his throat was slit with a knife. The motive is unclear. They said he’s suffered from longtime psychiatric problems and substance abuse problems, although, specifically, we do not have a motive nailed down,” Kosek added.

The bodies of both men were sent to the state medical examiner’s office in Charleston for an autopsy. The other two residents of the house were also injured in the attack and checked into WVU Medicine Reynolds Memorial Hospital.

This is the first murder reported in Moundsville since 2016. Previously, a 15-year-old Moundsville resident Kyle Morgan was reportedly found murdered in Wheeling in June 2016. A year before Morgan's death, in September, a 79-year-old man named Carl Mike Thompson, also of Moundsville, was shot and found dead near Proctor.