A 22-year-old Michigan man, Stephen Freeman, was convicted of the 2022 murder of Gabriele Seitz, a 64-year-old woman. He strangled her to death with a shoelace and was later arrested while driving her pickup truck with her body inside.
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According to a press release issued by the Macomb County Prosecutor’s Office, on September 6, a jury found Freeman guilty of first-degree premeditated murder, felony murder, first-degree home invasion, second-degree criminal sexual conduct, concealing the death of an individual, and receiving and concealing stolen property.
Stephen Freeman will be sentenced on October 22. He faces a mandatory life sentence for his murder convictions. However, as per Law & Crime, individuals who are 19 and 20 when they committed crimes must be eligible for parole at some point, according to a recent Supreme Court decision.
“Today’s verdict delivers justice for the victim and her family,” Macomb County Prosecutor Peter J. Lucido said. “This young man’s actions were brutal, deliberate, and have left lasting scars on our community. While no conviction can erase the pain and loss suffered, we hope this outcome provides a measure of closure.”
“I am grateful to the jurors for their careful consideration of the evidence. Our office remains committed to pursuing justice and ensuring that those who commit such heinous crimes are held fully accountable.”
Strangled To Death
As reported by Macomb Daily, citing the prosecution, Freeman murdered Seitz back on October 26, 2022. He broke into her Utica Road apartment, sexually assaulted her, and proceeded to strangle her to death with a shoelace.
Prosecutors said that Freeman was captured carrying a duffel bag containing Seitz’s body into her Ford Ranger, placing her in the bed of the vehicle. He then drove off in the stolen pickup truck.
A day later, however, Freeman crashed the stolen Ranger into a semi-trailer truck in Roseville. He fled the scene on foot, but authorities made the horrifying discovery minutes later: Seitz was still inside.
“I saw what looked like a comforter in the back … I proceeded to pull back the blanket, and the first thing I observed was a human leg,” Roseville Police Detective Chris Moran testified, as per the Macomb Daily. “My immediate reaction, based on my years of training and experience, was this was a deceased person.”
Freeman was subsequently arrested, wearing the same clothes he wore when he killed Seitz.