Newton, N.C. – In October of 2023 deputies with the Catawba County Sheriff’s Office responded to a
report of a person suspected of overdosing at a residence on Old Shelby Rd. When deputies arrived they
discovered Brian Paul Topping deceased inside that residence. Topping was 35 years old at the time of
his death.
An autopsy revealed the cause of Topping’s death was toxicity stemming from ingestion of a mixture of
narcotics.
Sheriff’s investigators gathered evidence identifying Mathew Douglas Roop as the person suspected of
supplying the narcotics that caused Topping’s death.
Roop, 33, has been indicted by a Catawba County Grand Jury for Death by Distribution, 2nd Degree
Murder and Selling or Delivering Schedule II Controlled Substances. Roop, a Taylorsville resident, is
being held with no bond pending a first appearance in Catawba County District Court on 06/26/2024.
Sheriff Brown: “Our work to bring these distributors of death to justice is continuing. Through the close
partnership with our District Attorney’s Office we are making a difference. Our sentiments are with the
Topping family”.