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On Wednesday, January 25, the US Justice Department announced that Louisiana man Chance Seneca had been sentenced to 45 years in prison for attempting to kill his online date, Holden White.
According to NBC, the incident occurred in June 2020, when Chance Seneca was 19. Seneca was accused of kidnapping a then 18-year-old Holden White after meeting him on an online LGBTQ+ app before brutally assaulting and attempting to dismember his victim. White suffered from a coma in the aftermath of the attack.
Eventually, Seneca called the police and admitted that he had attempted to murder Holden. As per Louisiana authorities, when Chance Seneca was caught, he expressed that he intended to kill other men.
Chance Seneca was inspired by Jeffrey Dahmer
According to CBS, in 2020, Chance Seneca lured Holden White to his father's home before handcuffing him and threatening him with a handgun. He then attempted to murder the victim. Prosecutors claimed Seneca's actions were heavily influenced by serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer.
As per an official press release, federal authorities outlined the crime Seneca was accused of.
The press release read:
“According to his plea agreement, Seneca admitted that on June 20, 2020, he used Grindr, a dating application for gay and bisexual men, to kidnap and attempt to murder H.W., a gay man. Specifically, Seneca acknowledged that he used Grindr to propose a meeting with H.W., and that he drove H.W. to an isolated house, took out a handgun and told him to put on handcuffs."
The statement continued:
"Seneca then attempted to murder and dismember H.W. Seneca acknowledged that he intended to murder and dismember H.W. for the purpose of satisfying his homicidal urges, and that he had planned to continue murdering until he was caught or killed.”
The Department of Justice claimed that Seneca was obsessed with Jeffrey Dahmer, even posting pictures of the serial killer on his social media accounts.
The statement read:
"This fascination led him to spend months designing a murder-kidnapping scheme that mirrored the murders of gay men committed by the notorious serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer. Seneca had also intended to eat and preserve the bodies of his victims, as Dahmer had done."
Kristen Clarke, Assistant Attorney General of the Justice Department's Civil Rights Divison, said that Chance Seneca's crime held terrifying implications for other members of the LGBTQ+ community.
Clarke said:
"The facts of this case are truly shocking, and the defendant's decision to specifically target gay men is a disturbing reminder of the unique prejudices and dangers facing the LGBTQ+ community today."
While Seneca's sentence is officially 45 years, the Advocate reported that he will serve only 42, as he received two and a half years credit due to having been incarcerated before his trial.
