Clairton homicide suspect arrested after brief SWAT standoff in McKeesport
MCKEESPORT, Pa. (KDKA) -- Nearly two weeks after a well-known Pittsburgh barber died in a shooting and crash in Clairton, police arrested a man in connection to his murder.
Investigators were seen taking him into custody after a brief standoff in McKeesport on Tuesday.
Allegheny County police have yet to file any charges in connection with the standoff this afternoon, but the complaint gives some insight into what led up to Victor Musgrove's death.
At this time, the family declined to react as they were overwhelmed by the news.
"He agreed to come out and surrendered peacefully," according to Superintendent Chris Kearns of the Allegheny County Police Department.
Allegheny County Police Superintendent Chris Kearns says Edwin Wiley-Biggs, 42, is responsible for killing 51-year-old Victor Musgrove on Aug. 25 in Clairton.
"He was developed as a suspect early in the investigation," Kearns said.
Kearns says Thursday afternoon, detectives from the United States Marshals Fugitive Task Force learned Wiley-Biggs was at a home at Strawberry and Market Streets in McKeesport.
"They had some dialogue with him, hoping to get him to come out. The dialogue didn't seem like it was going anywhere," Kearns said of the incident in McKeesport.
That's when they called county SWAT to respond.
"As things developed, they got further conversation with him."
With the help of the suspect's family members, eventually, Wiley-Biggs came out, and police took him into custody. No shots were fired.
"He did not have any firearms on him when he surrendered," Kearns said.
In the arrest warrant, investigators say cell phone records show that Musgrove was talking to Wiley-Biggs about two weeks before the shooting but doesn't explain how they knew each other.
The complaint describes that the night Musgrove died, he went to Clairton to cheer on the Westinghouse football team for the first game of the season and then went to the Village Inn bar on Miller by Farnsworth, where police believe shots rang out.
Court records say a witness knew Musgrove was with Wiley-Biggs and that Musgrove brought several thousand dollars, taking earnings from his Smithfield Street barbershop and placing them in a bank bag.
The witness says they were texting with Musgrove while he was at the bar.
One text read, "Meeting this dude for some cheaper bud," a common reference to marijuana.
Another read, "I'm doing this for my safety."
Investigators say that eventually, Musgrove called that witness and told them Wiley-Biggs shot him.
Musgrove was shot in the chest and then, crashed into street lights, a telephone pole, and two other cars before hitting a tree.
First responders took him to the hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
The landlord of the McKeesport building tells me Wiley-Biggs was at his girlfriend's place. He has a lengthy criminal history and most recently was released from prison last November but remained on parole.
Wiley-Biggs will be housed in the Allegheny County Jail pending a preliminary arraignment.
