Jeffrey Dahmer Fan to Face Life for Kidnapping, Butchering Victims

A 19-year-old man Jeffrey Dahmer fan in Louisiana who used Grindr as a hunting ground for victims is facing life in prison after he was indicted in federal court on six charges, including kidnapping, firearm, obstruction, and committing a hate crime. U.S. Attorneys claim Chance Seneca, of Lafayette, used Grindr to successfully lure and kidnap two queer men, and that he attempted to murder and eat one of them, 18-year-old Holden White, last June.

The indictment alleges Seneca used Grindr to arrange dates with gay and bisexual men. The men thought they were meeting up for a date or hookup, but Seneca planned to murder and dismember the body, saving some parts to eat later. Prosecutors also claim Seneca used a gun during the crime, and that he later obstructed justice by destroying communications with the victims on Grindr.

The attack left White partially paralyzed and emotionally traumatized. He described a harrowing experience, waking up naked in Seneca's bathtub, bleeding from multiple stab wound to his neck as the young sadist was trying to saw off White's hand at the wrist.

"The water is running, and it's cold," White recalled last year from the hospital. "He is in the process of doing my left wrist. He was slicing it like this and was very, very hard. It was to the point that he was basically trying to cut off my hands."

The brutalized teen lost consciousness but woke up again to see Seneca looking down on him "with a fearful look in his face." His attacker backed off and called police. Thinking White was dead, Seneca confessed to killing a man, and police arrested him not long after. White was rushed at Ochsner Lafayette General Hospital with severe injuries, and didn't regain consciousness until three days later.

Seneca is facing a maximum sentence of life in prison for the combined hate crime, kidnapping, and gun charges, plus an additional 20 years for obstruction. The statutory minimum for the gun charge is five years in prison.

Prosecutors in Layfette and initially refused to level hate crime charges in the case, citing Seneca's apparent fascination with the gay murderous cannibal Jeffrey Dahmer, alleging at the time his actions might have been an attempt to emulate his idol and role model. Hate crime charges were later added.

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