Louisiana man planned to kill gay men after luring them on Grindr, feds say

ByKEVIN MCGILL, ASSOCIATED PRESS AP logo

Friday, March 19, 2021

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LAFAYETTE, Louisiana -- A southwest Louisiana man was charged with federal hate crime and kidnapping charges Thursday by prosecutors who said he tried to kill and dismember one of three men he abducted after luring them using social media and a dating app.

Chance Joseph Seneca, 19, of Lafayette, was charged Thursday in what a Justice Department news release called "an overarching scheme to kidnap and murder" gay men. The indictment said Seneca intended to keep parts of a victim's body as "mementos, trophies and food."

Along with Thursday's federal indictment in Lafayette is a newly unsealed affidavit that says Lafayette police responding to a call from Seneca last June found Holden White, 18, severely injured in a bathtub with strangulation marks on his neck and "wrists slit to the bone."

The affidavit was filed in August 2020 by an FBI agent and was based on information from Lafayette police and a conversation the agent had with Seneca. It said Seneca told police he had called 911 after the attack "in a self-described effort to be put into a mental institution."

White survived and later told KATC-TV that he is certain he was targeted because he is gay. "This is a hate crime due to a fact that he made it a point to choose a gay man on a gay app," he said in the November interview.

Seneca is in state custody, already facing attempted murder charges and a state hate crime charge in the June 20 attack. He has pleaded not guilty to the state charges, his public defender, Clay Lejeune, confirmed Thursday. Federal hearing dates had not been set as of Thursday afternoon. Lejeune is not representing Seneca in the federal case and declined immediate comment on the latest charges.

The federal indictment charges Seneca with three counts of kidnapping and one "hate crime with intent to kill." The indictment says Seneca kidnapped two other men on June 19 but gives few details.

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