Bodybuilder Beaten to Death with Metal Baseball Bat While Protecting His Teenage Daughter | Crime Alert 2PM 05.01.25

A bodybuilder father in New Jersey is beaten to death in front of his teenage daughter after confronting her alleged attacker on Easter Sunday. Three people are arrested in Texas after the bodies of a married couple and a family friend are found dumped near a creek following a robbery. Drew Nelson reports.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Crime Alert hourly update, breaking crime news Now.

Speaker 2 (00:03):
I'm Drew Nelson. A bodybuilder father in New Jersey is
beaten to death in front of his teenage daughter after
confronting her alleged attacker. On Easter Sunday, fifty four year
old Lewis Gus Surbeck of Millville drove with his nineteen
year old daughter Brooke to a home on Leeming's Mill
Road in Violand. Brooke had told him she was assaulted
there the day before by a seventeen year old boy.

(00:23):
Sirbek hoped to speak with the boy and his father,
fifty five year old Eric Hannah, who had been a
family friend for years. The meeting quickly turned violent. Prosecutors
said the teen punched Serbek in the face, then smashed
a window on his truck. When Sirbek tried to stop him,
the boy beat him in the head with a metal
baseball bat. Hannah then struck Sirbek in the skull with
a metal flashlight. Brooke was also hit in the head

(00:46):
during the fight. Police arrived to find Sirbek critically injured.
He died on the way to the hospital. The teen
and his father were arrested at the scene. Sirbek's brother
Christopher told w PVII, quote, he literally laid down his
life for his daughter.

Speaker 3 (00:59):
He would do anything for anyone. He would take the
shirt off his back and give it to you just
because you needed it. You know, you call him, he'd
be there.

Speaker 2 (01:08):
Christopher says the family had known each other for decades.

Speaker 3 (01:12):
Who was a friend, no expectations of something like this
happening at all.

Speaker 2 (01:16):
Surbeck was a father of two daughters and a grandfather
of two boys. He had grown especially close to Brook
in recent years. They often spent time together shopping or
working on projects. Family members say he once even called
off work just to take her to get her nails done.
His obituary described him as quote a fierce protector who
laid down his life to do what he does best,
to protect his family, to protect his baby girl. The

(01:39):
oh Bit also says, quote he was never happier than
when he had one of his daughters in his arms,
sharing a big, smiling, cheek to cheek hug.

Speaker 3 (01:47):
Definitely will be missed.

Speaker 2 (01:48):
A fundraiser created by a friend of the family has
raised over eleven thousand dollars. Both suspects were charged with
homicide and weapons offenses. The teen also faces aggravated assault
charges for allegedly hitting Brook remains in a juvenile facility
while prosecutor's way whether to charge him as an adult.
Hannah is being held at Cumberland County Jail. More crime

(02:08):
and justice news after this, Three people are arrested in
Texas after the bodies of a married couple and a
family friend are found dumped near a creek following a
robbery on Tusay. Parker County officials announced the arrests of
twenty seven year old twin Lawrence mckknight, nineteen year old

(02:29):
Barrett Copeland, and eighteen year old Michael Morris. Investigators say
McKnight and Copeland admitted they planned to rob forty four
year old Tiffany Ann Williams, her forty two year old
husband David Dwayne Walker, and fifty five year old Robbie
Allen Head. McKnight told deputies the group believe the victims
had drugs and money. He said a third man held
the couple at gunpoint while the others searched the house.

(02:50):
McKnight claimed that man also shot all three victims. That man,
Dennis Craig Alexander, was arrested but exonerated. McKnight also told
deputies that the group wrapped up the victim's bodies and
dumped them near a creek. Morris, the third suspect, allegedly
helped dispose of the bodies. Last Thursday, deputies found the
bodies of a black man, a white man, and a

(03:10):
white woman near a creek off FM one to six
seven in Northern Hood County. They were wrapped in fabric
and had gunshot wounds. The medical examiner identified them as Williams,
Walker and Head. Investigators say the killings happened on April twentieth,
three days earlier. A relative had gone to the couple's
home in Granbury after not being able to reach Williams.
They found the ring doorbell camera missing and the house

(03:32):
in disarray. No one inside, but the couple's car was
parked out front. Inside the vehicle, deputies found the back
seat bloody. A fired bullet casing was recovered. A bloody
fingerprint on the driver's door matched McKnight. According to the
Sheriff's office, McKnight and Copeland were charged with capital murder.
Morris was charged with failure to report a felony and
tampering with evidence. He was also charged with burglary of

(03:53):
a habitation. That charge is not tied to these killings.
McKnight was also held on a drug warrant from Terrant County.
Three remain in the Parker County Jail. McKnight and Copeland
have bond set at one million dollars each, while Morris's
bond had set at thirty eight thousand. Dame and Reginald
Emery was last seen February twenty seventh of nineteen ninety
six around four am in Wilmington, Delaware. A friend had

(04:15):
dropped him off outside his home in the four hundred
block of East tenth Street. No one has seen or
heard from him since. Emory was known for staying in
close contact with his mother, his pregnant girlfriend, and the
mother of his young son. He loved his dogs. His
family said it was unlike him to leave without telling
anyone or arranging for care for his pets. At the
time he vanished, Emory was wearing a gray nautic a sweatsuit,

(04:36):
a black leather jacket, Nike sneakers, and a ring on
his left pinky. He also has a seven inch scar
on his abdomen. He grew up in Wilmington and went
to Newark High School. He had a history of arrests,
including drug and weapons charges, but his mother said he
had been trying to turn his life around and find work.
His case remains unsolved today. He would be fifty one.
Emory is black between five seven and five eight, about

(04:57):
one hundred and sixty pounds when he disappeared. Black, black hair,
brown eyes. Anyone with information called Wilmington Police at three
two six' fi four fifty one fifty one for the
latest crime and justice. News follow crime alerts hourly update
on your favorite podcast app with this crime. Alert I'm Drean.

Speaker 1 (05:13):
Nelson how could a, beautiful young first grade teacher be
stabbed twenty, times including in the, back allegedly die of? Suicide,
yes that was the medical examiner's official ruling after a

(05:34):
closed door. Meeting he first named it a. Homicide why
What happened To Ellen? Greenberg a Huge american miscarriage of.
Justice for an in depth look at the, facts See
What happened To ellen On. Amazon all proceeds to The

(05:56):
National center For missing And Exploited.

Speaker 3 (05:59):
Children