A man from southwest Louisiana was charged on Thursday with federal hate crimes and kidnapping by prosecutors who said he tried to murder and dismember one of the three men he kidnapped after luring them using social media and a dating app.
KLFY-TV
Chance Joseph Seneca, 19, of Lafayette, was charged Thursday in what a Justice Department press release called an “overarching plan to kidnap and murder gay men.” According to the indictment, Seneca planned to preserve parts of a victim’s body as “keepsakes, trophies and food.”
Along with Thursday’s federal indictment in Lafayette, there is a recently unsealed affidavit saying that in response to a call from Seneca last June, Lafayette police found Holden White, 18, seriously injured in a bathtub with strangulation marks on his neck and ‘wrists cut to the bone’.
The indictment further alleges that Seneca tried to cover up his actions by removing communication between himself and the victim of the attempted murder.
The affidavit was filed by an FBI agent in August and was based on information from Lafayette Police Department and a conversation the agent had with Seneca. It said Seneca had told police that he called the emergency number after the attack “in a self-described attempt to be admitted to a mental institution.”
White later told CBS partner KLFY-TV that he is sure he was targeted because he is gay.
“He was using 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 this in prison. He said he chose me because I’m smaller in stature and it would be easier to kill me. He knew what he did.”
Seneca is in custody and has already been charged with attempted murder and a state hate crime charge in the June 20 attack. He pleaded not guilty to the state’s charges, his public defender, Clay Lejeune, confirmed Thursday. The dates for the federal hearing were not set for Thursday afternoon. Lejeune is not representing Seneca in the federal case and declined immediate comment on the latest allegations.
The federal indictment charges Seneca with three charges 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.