A Louisiana man in the southwest has been charged with charges of federal hate crime and kidnapping by prosecutors who said he tried to kill and discourage one of the three men he abducted after using them with social media and a dating app attracted.
KLFY-TV
Chance Joseph Seneca, 19, of Lafayette, is charged Thursday in a news release that is an overarching plan to kidnap and kill gay men. According to the indictment, Seneca intends to keep parts of a victim’s body as ‘souvenirs, trophies and food’.
Along with Thursday’s federal indictment in Lafayette, a recent statement saying Lafayette police found a call from Seneca last June found that Holden White, 18, was seriously injured in a bath with strangulation marks on his neck and a wrist up to the leg. ‘
The indictment further alleges that Seneca was trying to cover up his actions by deleting communications between himself and the victim of the attempted murder.
The affidavit was filed in August by an FBI agent based on information from Lafayette police and a conversation the agent had with Seneca. Seneca is said to have told police he called 911 after the attack “in a self-described attempt to be placed in a mental institution.”
White later told CBS subsidiary KLFY-TV that he was sure he was being targeted because he was gay.
“He used an app for gay people,” he told the station in January. “He chose to choose someone who is gay and very proud of his sexuality. He said that in prison. He said he chose me because I have a smaller stature and it would be easier to kill me. He knew what he was doing. “
Seneca is in state custody and is facing charges of attempted murder and a state charge of hate crime in the June 20 attack. He pleaded not guilty to the state charge, his public defender, Clay Lejeune, confirmed Thursday. Federal trial dates were not set for Thursday afternoon. Lejeune does not represent Seneca in the federal case and immediately declined to comment on the latest charges.
The federal act accuses Seneca of three counts of kidnapping and one “hate crime with intent to kill.” According to the indictment, Seneca abducted two other men on June 19, but there are few details about it.