Avedis Seaward

Avedis Seaward Case

A Long Criminal History Turns Violent

By 1978, Avedis Seaward had amassed an extensive rap sheet. Seaward, whose crimes began in 1961 when he was 11 years old, had charges including grand larceny, disorderly conduct, reckless operation and multiple assault charges. His crimes escalated and in 1978 he was convicted in Cobb County, Georgia of aggravated assault and rape. Seaward served three years of a possible five-year prison sentence and was paroled on February 1, 1981.

A Predator Emerges

After his parole, Seaward moved to New Hampshire. On the evening of May 27, 1981, three months after he was paroled, Seaward met a a 17-year-old girl and her 18-year-old friend at a pizza parlor. Seaward, who went by the name “Artie,” and a male friend offered the girls a ride. They bought several six packs of beer and drove to a quarry. The girls each had three beers and, 90 minutes later, Seaward offered to drive everyone home. Seaward dropped his male friend off first. The girls got into the front seat. Seaward sat in the driver’s seat, the 18-year-old woman sat in the middle, and the 17-year-old girl sat in the passenger seat. Instead of taking the girls home, Seaward drove them to an isolated field.

After arriving at the field, Seaward told the girls he had a gun under the seat and “had intentions of using it on the two girls if they did not do exactly as he told them to do.” Seaward told the 17-year-old girl he wanted to rape her and while doing so he was going to make the 18-year-woman perform oral sex on the 17-year-old girl. The girls protested and Seaward pulled out a “razor blade knife” and threatened to use it against them if they did not perform exactly the way he wanted them to.

The 17-year-old girl, terrified and in fear for her life, opened the passenger door and ran into the field where the vehicle was parked. Seaward climbed over the 18-year-old woman and chased after the girl. The 18-year-old woman exited the vehicle and ran in the opposite direction. Seaward chased the 17-year-old girl and caught her in a cemetery. He then sexually assaulted her. The 18-year-old woman ran to a house where a family took her in and allowed her to call police.

Police found Seaward and, based on the statements of the girls, charged him with two counts of kidnapping and one count of aggravated felonious sexual assault. The court found Seaward not guilty by reason of insanity and sentenced him to six weeks in a mental institution.

A Trail of Terror

After his release, Seaward moved to Ohio. Almost immediately after arriving in Lebanon, Ohio he began preying on his next victim. Seaward went into a convenience store and walked around picking up a few items. Realizing no one else was in the store, Seaward went up to the 23-year-old female clerk and pulled out a gun. He told the terrified woman to give him the money. He then went around the counter, put the gun to the woman’s head, and told her to leave with him. He drove the woman to a nearby county and raped her. Throughout the ordeal he continually told the woman she “knew too much” and he would have to kill her.

After raping the woman, Seaward drove back to town and let the woman out of the car at a closed gas station. Before releasing her, Seaward told her if he went to jail, he would find her and kill her when he got out. He then told her that she had “ten seconds to run.” The woman exited the vehicle and ran to a doorway, where she hid and watched Seaward drive away. Seaward made a U-turn and drove by again. When he drove past the second time, the woman ran to a police station and reported what had happened to her. Police made a composite sketch and put out an all points bulletin for Seaward’s Volkswagen.

Seaward drove across Ohio until he got to city of Fremont. He went into a tavern and asked a female barmaid and her boyfriend if they would drive him to his abandoned vehicle. They agreed and, upon entering the car, Seaward put a knife to the woman’s throat and told her boyfriend he would kill the woman if he did not get out of the car. The boyfriend exited the car and ran inside the bar to call police. Seaward then drove the woman to a secluded location where he repeatedly raped and assaulted the woman. Throughout the ordeal, he continually told the woman he was going to kill her. Seaward drove back to the bar and told the woman if he went to jail, he would find her when he got out and kill her. When Seaward arrived at the bar, police were waiting for him and immediately arrested him.

After his arrest, police linked Seaward to the rape in Lebanon, Ohio, and both victims identified him as their attacker. He was indicted in each county for rape, kidnapping, and aggravated robbery. Prosecutors in both counties decided a trial would be too difficult for the victims and allowed Seaward to plead guilty to aggravated robbery in both cases. The victims were not included in the decision process. Seaward received a sentence of 7-25 years in each case to be served consecutively (back to back) resulting in a total sentence of 14-50 years. Since Seaward was never prosecuted for the rapes, he cannot be adjudicated a sexual offender. If released, he will have no sex offender reporting requirements and he cannot be listed on any sex offender registry.

Confessions of A Serial Killer

After Seaward’s arrest, he sent a letter to authorities stating he had been involved in a multitude of serious crimes throughout the United States. He told authorities if they would extradite him back to New Hampshire, he would confess to them all.

The FBI was called in to interview Seaward. During the interview, Seaward told an FBI Special Agent that “he has been involved in numerous rapes, at least five murders, and an arson in Atlantic Beach, Florida in which a multimillion dollar complex was burned.” Seaward also told the agent that he was involved in “tractor trailer thefts, mail frauds, and numerous burglaries and robberies, most of which he has not been prosecuted for.” During the interview, Seaward claimed to have killed “an old lady” in New Hampshire and also two of his accomplices in a stolen freight ring who “stole his load.” According to Seaward, he shot one man in the head with a .357 Magnum and buried his body under what is now the John Hancock Building in Boston, Massachusetts. He claimed he also shot the second accomplice and cut his body up with “a Bowie type knife” and placed the body parts in several holes in a field. During the interview, Seaward also confessed to several rapes.

Seaward told the special agent that as long as he is on his medication, he is “able to handle the pressures of modern-day life.” He then stated that “when he is out of prison, he seems to lose control of himself and he commits crimes which he should know better than to do.” Seaward told the agent that he is “content to remain in prison the rest of his life.” Seaward said he would confess to his crimes if he could be transferred back to a prison in New Hampshire near his family and if he could be guaranteed the death penalty. We have no records of any follow-up to this initial interview.

No Parole

Avedis Seaward has received far too many breaks. Twice, Seaward has committed violent crimes against women and been placed back on the streets. Every time he is released, he rapes and terrorizes more women. In addition, due to plea deals in Ohio which resulted in no sex crime convictions, Seaward cannot be adjudicated a sex offender, which means if he is released, he cannot appear on any sex offender registry. Seaward also openly admits to being a serial killer and a serial rapist who has committed numerous crimes that were never prosecuted.

Per Seaward’s own words, “when he is out of prison, he seems to lose control of himself and he commits crimes which he should know better than to do.” It is clear that releasing Seaward at any point would pose a profound and immeasurable risk to any community where he would reside. Based on Seaward’s violent and repetitive criminal history, and his confession to multiple additional violent crimes, we believe Seaward should be required to serve his full sentence of 50 years in prison. To further the interests of justice and to protect society we urge the Ohio Parole Board to give Avedis Seaward the maximum continuance of ten years at all future parole hearings until he serves his entire 50-year sentence.