COURTS
Man sentenced in beating, arson attack on aunt
Richard Seago sentenced to 22 1/2 years following plea deal
Published
A man who pleaded guilty to beating his 81-year-old aunt and setting fire to her Northeast Heights home with the woman inside was sentenced Monday to 22 ½ years in prison.
Richard Paul Seago, 54, pleaded guilty last month to attempted first-degree murder and other felonies in the Aug. 10 attack on Elizabeth Bass, who survived the assault, the 2nd Judicial District Attorney's Office said.
Second Judicial District Judge Britt Baca sentenced Seago on Monday to the maximum sentence allowed under his plea agreement.
Seago also pleaded guilty to arson, aggravated assault and unlawful use of a debit card for using Bass' debit card to make unauthorized withdrawals in Atlanta and Philadelphia while his aunt remained hospitalized, according to a criminal complaint filed in Bernalillo County Metro Court.
Seago "violently attacked Bass as she slept, causing serious injuries," prosecutors wrote in a pretrial detention motion. "Defendant then lit the house on fire while Bass was still inside, creating an extreme risk that Bass would be killed in the fire."
Bernalillo County deputies responded Aug. 10 to a 911 call from Bass and found thick smoke inside her home in the 7700 block of Cedar Canyon Place NE, the complaint said. Bass was hospitalized with a fractured skill and deep cuts to her forehead and left ear.
Seago called BCSO dispatch on Aug. 12 and acknowledged that he had attacked his aunt and set fire to her house, prosecutors said in a pretrial detention motion.
