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Woman pleads guilty to role in Arlee murder

Brett Berntsen | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 8 years, 1 month AGO
by Brett Berntsen
| September 23, 2016 2:05 PM

A woman involved in the February murder of an 18-year-old man in Arlee has pleaded guilty to accountability for negligent homicide.

Kassandra Seese, whose name and address are unlisted in court documents, entered the plea in Lake County District court on Wednesday.

According to an affidavit, Seese stood by while her husband, Stephen Seese, allegedly bludgeoned his nephew Richard Warner to death with a hammer inside the couple’s trailer on Coombs Lane in Arlee. The couple then placed Warner’s body in their shower and covered it with clothes and furniture, the affidavit states. Warner’s body went undiscovered until June 2, when two men who were moving the trailer reported the smell of decaying flesh, the affidavit states.

Detectives were able to contact Kassandra Sees in Idaho, where her husband was incarcerated due to an unrelated incident. Seese allegedly told officers that the killing took place on Feb. 17, and that the couple continued to live with their two children in the trailer until early May, when the family moved to Idaho, the affidavit states.

Seese allegedly told officers that the argument took place after her husband accused Warner of being a liar.

One of the men who reported the smell coming from the trailer told officers Stephen Seese was an avid methamphetamine user, and that Seese told him Warner had died in a car crash in Billings, the affidavit states.

Kassandra Seese’s sentencing was set for Nov. 16. Her plea agreement recommends Seese be committed to the Department of Corrections for 20 years, with 15 years suspended.

Stephen Seese remains charged with deliberate homicide. His trial is set for Nov. 14.

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