Seth Privacky | |
---|---|
Born | Seth Stephen Privacky June 2, 1980 [1] Muskegon, Michigan U.S. |
Died | (aged 30) Kincheloe, Michigan, U.S. |
Cause of death | Gunshot wounds |
Motive | Personal dispute following a threat of eviction from his parents |
Conviction(s) |
|
Criminal penalty | Life imprisonment without parole |
Details | |
Date | November 29, 1998 12:45-1:20 p.m. (UTC-5) |
Killed | 5 |
Weapon | .22 Ruger handgun |
Seth Stephen Privacky (June 2, 1980 – July 15, 2010) was an American mass murderer from Muskegon, Michigan. He shot and killed his parents, brother, his brother's girlfriend, and his grandfather on November 29, 1998, at the age of 18. He pled no contest and was convicted of five counts each of first-degree murder and felony firearm charges. A friend was charged with helping him dispose of the weapon and being an accessory to the crime but was acquitted. He was sentenced to life in prison without parole. He was shot and killed during a failed prison escape attempt with two other inmates at Kinross Correctional Facility on July 15, 2010.
At the time of the shooting, Privacky was a senior at Reeths-Puffer High School. [2] His classmates described him as quiet and soft-spoken. [3] His parents described him as a "good kid" in 1997, and court records showed he was a B-average student. [4] However, a family friend stated that his father believed he was a psychopath who did not have a conscience and that his mother said he was "out of control". [3] [5] His mother checked a box in a 1996 court questionnaire claiming that he "sometimes" drank alcohol at 16. [4]
The year before the shooting, in 1997, a court had ordered Privacky to attend counseling and to take the antidepressant Wellbutrin after he was arrested for stealing beer from a store he worked at and selling it to minors, [6] [7] and shoplifting from another store. [8] It was not known if he had been taking the drug in the lead-up to the shooting. [6] He was placed on probation and sentenced to 10 days in a county youth home. [2] [4] He completed probation. [7]
Privacky later claimed, in a 2007 letter from prison, that he started using alcohol and marijuana at age 14, then LSD and amphetamine by the age of 16. He also claimed that he was on LSD at the time of the shooting, and afterward vomited and had suicidal thoughts after the effects had worn off. [9] Law enforcement officials were skeptical of this claim, as he did not mention using drugs in his interrogation. [5] He also claimed to have sold drugs and been promiscuous throughout high school. [5] He blamed the shooting on the fact he was raised agnostic, after he converted to Christianity in prison. [5] [9]
Security footage showed Privacky attempting to buy .22 caliber ammunition the night before the murders. His purchase was rejected due to his age. Where he obtained the ammunition used in the shooting was not known. [4]
The murders took place over Thanksgiving weekend; the family was preparing for a delayed holiday dinner. [10] [11] Privacky claimed after the murders that his father threatened to kick him out, and that his father said that his parents no longer loved him. He said that he had been arguing with his father for months. [3] [4] His aunt later said that his car had been taken away after he received a C on his report card, which enraged him. [12] Privacky grabbed his father's .22 Ruger handgun out of the closet and went downstairs, hiding it behind his back. [6] [13]
After his father left to pick up his grandfather at 12:45pm, Privacky shot his brother in the back of the head while he was watching TV, before dragging his body into the basement. [13] He then waited for his father to return home, before ambushing him and his grandfather in the garage, shooting them both in the back of the head. A detective later said that he "shot his grandfather twice, to make sure he was dead." [3] [4] He then went upstairs and shot his mother, after waiting for her to get out of the shower. [3] [6] His brother's girlfriend, April Boss, arrived and saw the bodies, leading him to shoot her as she walked into the kitchen. [10] All of the victims were shot once in the head, except for his grandfather, who was shot twice in the neck. [14]
At 2pm, Privacky called a friend of his named Steven Clayton Wallace, also 18, to help him clean up the scene, and Wallace arrived half an hour later. [13] [15] They wrapped the bodies in sheets and planned to bury them later. [13] Wallace disposed of the gun and clip in a pond 10 miles away. [6] He then returned a movie at Blockbuster, went home, and attended a church youth group. [4] [6] He disposed of the shell casings in a gas station trash can and went to the grocery store to get duct tape. [6] He spent several hours mopping up blood. [4] Wallace returned to Privacky's home later that night. [15] The bodies turned out to be too heavy for either man to carry, and they decided to arrange them so that it would look like a robbery. [2] [6]
They were taking several items from the house [3] when, around midnight, Boss' parents, who had been looking for her, drove up to the house, which made Wallace and Privacky flee into the woods. [3] [6] They entered the home and called the police. [2] [6] Shortly after the police arrived, Wallace was apprehended by police using tracking dogs after being sighted running out of the woods near the crime scene. [4] [16] He admitted to what had happened and began cooperating with authorities. [3] [6] The police did not initially enter the home, fearing the killer was still inside. [17]
A manhunt for Privacky began, and his school went on lockdown out of fear he would arrive. [2] [3] He hid for nearly 13 hours, ultimately being found in a barn a mile from his home, [16] after a schoolmate who had given him a ride recognized him and tipped off the police. [3] [4] He said nothing after his arrest, besides requesting a lawyer. [7] Police found bloody clothing and a stolen television in a car belonging to one of the Privackys. [6]
Privacky was jailed on US$5 million bail, and charged with five counts of open murder on December 1, 1998. [13] [14] Wallace was held for the same amount on identical charges. [14] He initially claimed his dead brother had committed the murders, stating that they were the result of a murder-suicide pact between them that had gone awry. [3] [6] He later confessed the day after the shooting. [5] His affect after being arrested was said to be flat and emotionless, with an officer noting his demeanor was as if "nobody was home". [3] [5]
He pled no contest and was convicted of five counts of first-degree murder and five counts of felony firearm charges. [8] [18] He was found guilty and sentenced to life in prison without parole on May 27, 1999. [13] He requested he be allowed to "see the world" before he had to report to prison, which was rejected by the judge. [3] [4] Privacky cried after he finished giving his statement to the court. [6] The prosecutor described the crime scene as one of the most brutal he had ever seen. [14]
Wallace's charges were later downgraded to five felony firearm charges and five counts of being an accessory to the crime. [13] [15] He was acquitted by a jury in November 1999, after his defense argued that he only helped Privacky due to fear for his life. [3] [13] A detective of the Muskegon County Sheriff's Department called the verdict a "travesty". [18] Wallace was charged several weeks after his acquittal for vandalism he had committed between his two visits to the Privacky home the day of the murders and was ordered to pay restitution after he pleaded no contest to misdemeanor property destruction. [15]
On July 15, 2010, Privacky was shot and killed during a failed prison escape attempt at Kinross Correctional Facility, a low to medium-security prison in Michigan's Upper Peninsula. He had 32 prison misconducts, including ones for substance abuse, gambling, theft, and misconducts in October 2009 for possessing a weapon and for fighting the same year. [8] [19] He and two other inmates carjacked a correctional staff semi-truck near the prison around 9:10 a.m. (ET) and tried to drive it through the double fence, resulting in a large breach in it. All three prisoners were level two security, the minimum allowed security for prisoners serving life in prison. [19] The truck traveled roughly 100 yards before it stopped, and all three inmates attempted to flee the truck. He ignored orders to stop running and was shot dead by a corrections officer. [20] [21] After he was shot, the other two inmates surrendered. [22] He was shot in the head, the same method of death as his victims. [3] The driver of the truck was left with superficial injuries. [20]
The two other prisoners involved in the escape attempt, Andrew Joseph Ross and Brian Lee Davidson, were also serving sentences for murder; Ross was subsequently sentenced to life in prison. As Davidson was already serving a sentence of life imprisonment, he was not charged for the escape attempt. [22]
Christopher J. Scarver Sr. is an American convicted murderer. He is best known for the 1994 murders of his fellow inmates Jeffrey Dahmer and Jesse Anderson, both convicted murderers, at the Columbia Correctional Institution in Wisconsin. The three inmates were on a work detail together in the prison gymnasium, and had a confrontation while unsupervised. Scarver had concealed a metal bar that he used to beat and fatally injure Dahmer and Anderson. Scarver was convicted and sentenced to two further life sentences for these murders. He had already been sentenced to life in prison after being convicted of the murder of Steve Lohman in 1990.
Bedford Hills Correctional Facility for Women, a women's prison in the town of Bedford, New York, is the only maximum security New York State women's prison. The prison previously opened under the name Westfield State Farm in 1901. It lies just outside the hamlet and census-designated place Bedford Hills, New York.
Sing Sing Correctional Facility is a maximum-security prison for men operated by the New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision in the village of Ossining, New York, United States. It is about 30 miles (48 km) north of Midtown Manhattan on the east bank of the Hudson River. It holds about 1,700 inmates as of 2007, and housed the execution chamber for the State of New York for a period, with the final execution there occurring in 1963; instead Green Haven Correctional Facility had the execution chamber by the late 20th Century. The total abolition of capital punishment in New York occurred in 2007.
United States Penitentiary Florence Administrative Maximum Facility is a United States federal prison in Fremont County, Colorado, operated by the Federal Bureau of Prisons, a division of the United States Department of Justice.
The Silverwater Correctional Complex, an Australian maximum and minimum security prison complex for males and females, is located in Silverwater, 21 km (13 mi) west of the Sydney central business district in New South Wales, Australia. The complex is operated by Corrective Services NSW, an agency of the New South Wales Government Department of Communities and Justice.
Clinton Correctional Facility is a New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision maximum security state prison for men located in the Village of Dannemora, New York. The prison is sometimes colloquially referred to as Dannemora, although its name is derived from its location in Clinton County, New York. The southern perimeter wall of the prison borders New York State Route 374. Church of St. Dismas, the Good Thief, a church built by inmates, is located within the walls. The prison is sometimes referred to as New York's Little Siberia, due to the cold winters in Dannemora and the isolation of the upstate area. It is the largest maximum-security prison and the third-oldest prison in New York. The staff includes about 1,000 officers and supervisors.
Calipatria State Prison (CAL) is a male-only state prison located in the city of Calipatria, in Imperial County, California.
The Rocori High School shooting was a school shooting that occurred at Rocori High School on September 24, 2003, in Cold Spring, Minnesota, United States. The shooter was identified as 15 year-old freshman John Jason McLaughlin, who murdered 14-year-old freshman Seth Bartell and 17-year-old senior Aaron Rollins. Prior to the shooting, McLaughlin was described as "quiet and withdrawn".
California Institution for Men (CIM) is a male-only state prison located in the city of Chino, San Bernardino County, California. It is often colloquially referenced as "Chino". In turn, locals call the prison "Chino Men's" or just "Men's" to avoid confusion with the city itself.
Central California Women's Facility (CCWF) is an American women's California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation state prison located in Chowchilla, California. It is across the road from Valley State Prison. CCWF is the second largest female correctional facility in the United States, and houses the only State of California death row for women.
The Oklahoma State Penitentiary, nicknamed "Big Mac", is a prison of the Oklahoma Department of Corrections located in McAlester, Oklahoma, on 1,556 acres (6.30 km2). Opened in 1908 with 50 inmates in makeshift facilities, today the prison holds more than 750 male offenders, the vast majority of which are maximum-security inmates. They also hold many death row prisoners.
William Gerald Zuern Jr. was an American convicted murderer who was executed by the state of Ohio for the murder of a Hamilton County sheriff's deputy working as a corrections officer in the county jail. Zuern spent 19 years and 7 months on death row, with lawyers fighting his death sentence. His execution occurred on the day before the 20th anniversary of the crime for which he was condemned.
The Tacoma Mall shooting was a mass shooting and attempted mass murder that occurred on November 20, 2005, at the Tacoma Mall in Tacoma, Washington, United States. The gunman, Dominick Maldonado, entered the mall with a semi-automatic Norinco MAK-90 rifle and a pistol, injuring six before he instigated four armed kidnappings.
Spring Creek Correctional Center is an Alaska Department of Corrections maximum security prison for men located in Seward, Alaska, United States. The prison is located approximately 125 miles (201 km) south of Anchorage. The prison is located on about 328 acres (1.33 km2) of land surrounded by national parks. The prison capacity consists of over 500 inmates and 97 correctional officers. Built as a decentralized campus, the prison construction was completed in 1988 at a cost of $44,678,000. A large portion of the prisoner population consists of "hard core" felons who committed violent crimes, such as murder. The Alaska DOC says that these prisoners "will probably spend the rest of their life in prison." Spring Creek also houses prisoners who committed less serious crimes like assault and burglary and usually have sentences from three years to ten years.
The San Quentin Six were six inmates at San Quentin State Prison in the U.S. state of California who were charged with actions related to an August 21, 1971, escape attempt that resulted in six deaths and at least two people seriously wounded. The San Quentin Six were Fleeta Drumgo, David Johnson, Hugo Pinell, Johnny Larry Spain, Willie Tate, and Luis Talamantez. The dead included George Jackson, a co-founder of the Black Guerrilla Family; two other inmates, and three guards.
The South Dakota State Penitentiary is a state prison located in South Dakota's largest city, Sioux Falls. The building's industry shop makes several things for the state, including woodwork and license plates. The State Penitentiary also houses South Dakota's death row for men and the state's execution chamber.
The murder of Renisha Marie McBride, a 19-year-old African American teenager, occurred on November 2, 2013, in Dearborn Heights, Michigan, United States. Renisha McBride crashed her car while intoxicated at a street in Detroit, and then walked to a neighborhood in Dearborn Heights where she knocked on the door of a house. The homeowner, 54-year-old Theodore Wafer, shot McBride with a shotgun. Wafer contended that the shooting was accidental and that he thought his home was being broken into after he heard her banging on his door at 4:42 in the morning.
Richard William “Rick” Matt was an American murderer known for his prison escape, the 2015 Clinton Correctional Facility escape.
Kinross Correctional Facility (KCF) is a Michigan prison for men. It is located in the eastern Upper Peninsula of Michigan, in Chippewa County on the south side of Kincheloe, adjacent to Chippewa County International Airport. The original facility closed in October 2015, with most of the inmates relocating to the formerly closed Hiawatha Correctional Facility. Upon the move, the Kinross Correctional Facility name was transferred to the reopened complex.
Jessica Lynn Heeringa was a 25-year-old woman from Norton Shores, Michigan, who disappeared from the Exxon gas station where she was working on the night of April 26, 2013.