RICH KIDS WHO KILLED II: Stephen Seddon

A group of Texas youths decided killing one young man’s parents was the best get-rich-quick plan. It ended badly for everyone as does the tale of Manchester, England’s Stephen Seddon, who was more than old enough to know better.

He was also determined enough to try twice.

In March 2012, Seddon (who was in his mid-40s), his parents Robert and Patricia (both in their late 60s), and Seddon’s teenage nephew Daniel, who was being cared for by his grandparents, were in a terrible car crash.

Terrible, and odd.

Somehow, en route to a belated Mother’s Day meal, the rented BMW Stephen was driving plunged into Bridgewater Canal. Though he was disabled, Daniel was still able to free himself from the waterlogged car and claw his way to safety. Stephen, who conveniently had a seatbelt cutter and a steering-wheel lock suitable for smashing out windows within reach, also made it to the surface.

With his parents trapped in the back seat, slowly running out of air, Seddon managed to act both helpfully (screaming for assistance) and suspiciously (climbing onto the roof of the car, as if encouraging it to sink even faster). Fortunately, firefighters were quick to respond, and the seemingly doomed couple was saved. Questioned by police canal-side, Seddon had a hard time keeping his story straight.

This time, he made his move armed with a sawed-off shotgun and three cartridges; the third was apparently intended for Daniel who very fortunately wasn’t at home. (Much later, Seddon vehemently denied that he’d planned to kill the teen, blustering at “the sick assumption I would want to kill a disabled child.”)

But the older Seddons were not so lucky; they were both home that July day. Stephen shot his mother first as she tried to fight back, then turned the gun on the man who’d started to suspect the worst about his own flesh and blood. As if that wasn’t bad enough, Stephen then staged the crime scene to make it look like a murder-suicide. But the police saw right through his clumsy attempt to cast the blame elsewhere. His self-centered behavior after the bodies were discovered didn’t help his cause, as the
Independent reported:

Seddon’s reaction when police called with the “news” of his parents’ murders, was: “What am I going to do now? I’m going to lose the house, the mortgage is in my dad’s name.” He denied the shooting and said it was “ridiculous” to claim he had tried to kill his own mother and father.

What’s worse, it was discovered that he’d tried clumsily, again to provide himself with an alibi to further distance himself from the crime. After committing double murder, he drove 150 miles to buy beer, making sure he appeared on the store’s surveillance cameras. (He must’ve used his last dollar on this scheme, because it was later revealed Stephen was so broke that day, he had just £5.45 in his bank account.) He then drove to meet his wife and two of their three children for one last stay in the caravan that his parents had bought for them.

“Despite the fact that your parents had always been very generous in supporting you, you wanted more and you wanted it now  hence the plan to kill them and get your inheritance up front.?