Main: Stephen L. Freeman (Macomb County Prosecutor’s Office). Inset: The truck Freeman was driving with Gabriele Seitz’s body in the bed (WJBK).
A 22-year-old man in Michigan faces the possibility of spending his life in prison after being arrested with the deceased body of a 64-year-old woman, found in the bed of a stolen pickup truck he was driving. He has been charged with her murder, having strangled the victim using her own shoelace.
After a two-week trial, a jury in Macomb County on Tuesday found Stephen Lee Freeman guilty of numerous felonies, such as first-degree murder and felony murder, for the 2022 killing of Gabriele Seitz, authorities stated.
Besides the murder charges, the jurors also held Freeman accountable on several other counts including first-degree home invasion, second-degree criminal sexual conduct, concealing the death of an individual, and handling stolen property.
“Today’s verdict provides justice for the victim and her family. This young man’s actions were savage and intentional, leaving a deep impact on our community,” Macomb County Prosecutor Peter J. Lucido remarked in a statement following the verdict. “No conviction can completely heal the pain and loss experienced, but we hope this decision offers some closure. I appreciate the jurors’ meticulous evaluation of the evidence. Our office is resolved to pursue justice and ensure that perpetrators of such atrocious crimes face full accountability.”
As previously reported by Law&Crime, on the evening of Oct. 26, 2022, Freeman illegally entered Seitz’s home on Utica Road through a bathroom window, carrying a body-sized duffel bag. Upon her return from work, he sexually assaulted her and then strangled her with a shoelace.
“For three to five minutes, Gabriele Seitz endured a shoelace tightened around her neck,” Assistant Macomb Prosecutor Darrien Fortier told the jury during his closing arguments, according to the Macomb Daily. “In those three to five minutes, it was Stephen Freeman who placed it there. In those three to five minutes, Gabriele’s life ended. It was those minutes during which Stephen Freeman took her life.”
At about 1 a.m. the following day, prosecutors said Freeman was captured on surveillance footage carrying a heavy duffel bag containing Seitz’s body and loading it into the bed of Seitz’s Ford Ranger, which was parked just outside of her home. While driving Seitz’s vehicle on Oct. 27, Freeman got into a minor crash and fled the scene on foot. Seitz’s body was discovered by authorities about 30 minutes later.
“I opened the tailgate,” Roseville Police Detective Chris Moran testified at Freeman’s arraignment in a courtroom report by the Macomb Daily. “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. My immediate reaction, based on my years of training and experience, was this was a deceased person.”
Police say they used a cellphone video to identify the defendant as the driver who attempted to flee before being arrested. His DNA was found on Seitz’s body and throughout her home.
Freeman is currently scheduled to appear in court for his sentencing hearing before Macomb County Circuit Court Judge Julie Gatti on Oct. 22. He faces a mandatory sentence of life in prison. However, due to a recent state Supreme Court decision, defendants who are 19 and 20 at the time of their crime must be eligible for parole at some point during their incarceration.
