The U.S. Department of Justice announced on Thursday that a Louisiana man was indicted and charged in federal court on six counts, including hate crime, kidnapping, firearm and obstruction charges following his attempt to murder a gay man and his dark scheme to kidnap and kill other gay men he met online.
Chance Seneca, 19, of Lafayette allegedly used Grindr, a hook-up app for gay men, to find a gay man to kill and planned to dismember his victim's body parts as "trophies, mementos and food," according to the press release.
Seneca's Attempted Murder Case
In June 2020, Seneca attempted to kidnap 18-year-old Holden White and tried to dismember him. White and Seneca met for a first date after messaging each other on Grindr for a month, according to White. A few days later White was invited to an apartment that Seneca claimed was owned by his father, where he was allegedly strangled with a cord until he lost consciousness.
White told The Acadiana Advocate that when he woke up he found himself in a bathtub naked with Seneca trying to sever his hands from his body. He added that Seneca repeatedly stabbed his beck with a knife and twisted it around to torture him.
The attack left him in a three-day coma. He woke up in the ICU and stayed hospitalized for a month before being released. The night of the attack, Seneca called 911 and told authorities he had killed a man.
Seneca Had Notorious Serial Killer As His FB Profile Picture
According to Seneca's indictment, police recovered a firearm that he allegedly intended to use to carry out future attacks. He also tried to cover up his actions by deleting the text messages he exchanged with White on Grindr.
A Facebook profile under Seneca's name included a profile picture of Jeffrey Dahmer, a serial killer who murdered and dismembered 16 men and boys. Dahmer ate some of his victims' body parts and kept other parts as trophies and mementos. Seneca sought to do the same to his victims, the indictment alleged. The maximum punishment Seneca can face for the hate crime, kidnapping, and firearm charges includes life imprisonment.
