A man has been convicted after murdering his mum and dad for their inheritance in Sale.
Stephen Seddon (31/08/1966) of Benevente Street, County Durham was found guilty of murder and attempted murder at Manchester Crown Square today, Wednesday 26 March 2013.
At around 8pm on Tuesday 20 March 2012, Seddon was driving his BMW along Canal Road, near to the Bridgewater Canal. In the car was his nephew, his dad, 68-year-old Bob Seddon and his mum, 65-year-old Patricia Seddon.
Witness accounts say he was driving at speed and suddenly, without warning, the vehicle swerved violently, mounted the curb and plunged into the canal. As the car floated in the water, Seddon was seen to stand on the bonnet and roof of the vehicle. He kicked the rear passenger window open. As the driver's window was already open, it caused water to rush into the front of the vehicle and made it tilt sideways.
Police and fire officers were called and Seddon, Patricia and Bob were rescued. Seddon's nephew had previously managed to climb free of the car.
The incident was recorded as a traffic accident and no further action was taken.
It later emerged Seddon told fire crews that he believed he had hit a brick in the road and lost control, causing the car to career into the water. He told police that he had suffered a severe chest pain, involuntarily steered the car into the canal and accidentally put his foot on the accelerator.
At about 4.35pm on Friday 6 July 2012, police were called to Clough Avenue, Sale following a concern for welfare of the occupants of the house.
Officers attended and forced entry.
The bodies of Bob and Patricia were discovered. Mr Seddon's body was found sat on a sofa in the living room with a sawnoff shotgun across his lap and Mrs Seddon was found lying in the hallway.
The circumstances lead police to originally believe Mr Seddon may have killed his wife before turning the gun on himself. However, ballistic experts quickly established that Mr Seddon had been shot at least three feet away, ruling out suicide. The final position of the shotgun on his lap was also deemed impossible due to the recoil action of the weapon and only one cartridge was discovered not two, indicating someone else had been involved.
A post mortem later confirmed that both Mr and Mrs Seddon had been murdered.
A full scale murder investigation was launched and the movements of Bob and Patricia were traced. Both had been last seen alive at around 12.30pm on Wednesday 4 July and when a near neighbour had tried knocking on the door at 3.30pm the same day, there was no answer. It is believed both Mr and Mrs Seddon had been murdered between these times.
During witness interviews, it was clear that Mr Seddon had been suspicious of the canal incident in March as he knew his son was a capable driver and had received specialist driver training. Mr Seddon also claimed that he had seen clips on his son's Sky box on methods of how to escape from a submerged car and had recently given Stephen around £45,000 by releasing the equity on the family home. This money was for Seddon to put a deposit down on a new house and to furnish it.
Stephen Seddon was arrested in County Durham on Saturday 7 July 2012 and questioned. Investigators were told that on 4 July, Seddon had claimed he was driving to his local job centre in County Durham before returning to a family caravan in Fleetwood, Lancashire. However, CCTV footage shows Seddon had been in the Sale area and close to his mum and dad's home address.
