Court documents reveal gruesome details in Rehoboth Shores murder
LONG NECK, Del. – Court documents obtained by WMDT News revealing gruesome details in the case of 25-year-old Christopher Moran, a Millsboro man accused of stabbing his stepfather to death in the Rehoboth Shores community of Long Neck.
Delaware State Police were dispatched to a home on Redwing Lane around 10:30 p.m., Sunday after receiving a 911 call that a person was armed with a knife during a domestic-related complaint.
When police arrived, they met with Moran’s mother who said her son was physically assaulting her husband inside the home and that there was blood everywhere, according to the arrest warrant.
Police found the stepfather laying unresponsive in the grass in the front yard of the home, according to court documents. He was bleeding from unknown areas of his body, at which time life saving emergency medical care was rendered, but he was ultimately pronounced dead at the scene.
A preliminary documentation of the victim’s injuries were consistent with a few observable stab wounds to his torso and leg, according to the arrest warrant document.
As police continued their investigation, Moran’s mother advised that her son’s whereabouts were unknown. Police canvassed the area and located him on an adjacent street to Redwing Lane. As he was taken into custody, court documents noted that he appeared to be covered in blood. He was transported Beebe Hospital for treatment of lacerations to his right hand.
When police first made contact with Moran, court documents state that he said the knife that he was in possession of was on the hood of a car parked in the driveway at Redwing Lane. Police later located a large kitchen knife on the vehicle.
Later that same night, police would interview Moran’s mother, who shed light on what led up to the murder. According to the court documents, she, her husband, and their small dog were sitting in the living room of the house when Moran entered through the front door “forcefully” and picked up the dog.
Moran then took the dog back to the rear bedroom where he was physically harming the animal, court documents stated. When they went back to the bedroom to try to stop him, the stepfather and Moran got into a fight.
The stepfather was trying to calm Moran down and remove the dog from his attack, according to the court documents, when the physical altercation continued into the kitchen/living room area of the house where Moran came in possession of a kitchen knife.
The fight then spilled outside the house, at which time Moran’s mother called 911, the arrest warrant stated. She told police she could not see or hear what happened outside.
A few minutes later, Moran re-entered the home, again taking possession of the dog, according to the arrest warrant. He then took the dog to the same rear bedroom where locked the door and stabbed the dog with the knife. Court documents state that Moran’s mother was trying to get into the bedroom as she was hearing the dog cry out. Eventually, Moran came out and fled the home, according to the court document.
After Moran was released from the hospital, he was transported to Troop 7 where he was interviewed by investigators. During that interview, court documents state that he made comments that he hears voices and referred to his stepfather as being “the devil.”
Moran was charged with Murder First Degree (Felony) and Possession of a Deadly Weapon During the Commission of a Felony (Felony). He has since been committed to the Sussex Correctional Institution on $1,180,000 cash bond.
Delaware State Police are continuing their investigation. Anyone who may have witnessed the incident is urged to contact Sergeant S. Yeich by calling 302-741-2703 or Delaware Crime Stoppers at 1-800-TIP-3333.
