In February, I brought you the story of 17-year-old Ian Seagraves and 19-year-old Shawn "Skippy" Nicholas Freemore, two residents of Monroe County, Pennsylvania, who police say brutally murdered a 21-year-old man. Since that time there have been several new developments in the case, including a preliminary hearing and the release of new details in the case.
During the teens April 24 hearing, First Assistant District Attorney Michael Mancuso entered into evidence a notebook that was found inside Freemore's car, which contains poems that allegedly detail the Feb. 3 murder of Michael Goucher.
The poems, which are too explicit and graphic to quote in their entirety, read in part:
"He thought he'd get laid, but with his blood he paid…"
"When they came under, I was sitting in the dark cover, he sat next to me and I went and stabbed this mother (expletive), right into his neck and I stabbed him in the head, we checked but he started running, his (expletive) wasn't dead."
"My homie chased him down the street and ran toward the light, but nobody saw him, it was the middle of the night, his fright was showing, the mother (expletive) started pleading, he was all light-headed cuz his throat was all bleeding."
Upon submitting the poems into evidence, Mancuso called Seagraves' former fiancée, April Smith, 18, to the stand.
According to Smith, she met Seagraves about a year ago at the Pennsylvania Treatment and Healing alternative school in East Stroudsburg. The two were later engaged; however Smith said she broke off the relationship and began to see other people after Seagraves was arrested.
Smith said that she had spoken with Seagraves the day after Michael's disappearance and that it was apparent to her that something was bothering him.
"When I asked him what was wrong, he said him and Skippy did something awful," she said. "When I asked him what, he said they killed Michael."
In addition to Smith's testimony, a police investigator was called to the stand and asked to detail the events that led to the arrest of the two teens.
According to police, Michael Goucher went missing on Feb. 3, after he left his Stroudsburg apartment to meet a friend. The mystery of Michael's disappearance deepened on Feb. 10 when a concerned citizen informed police that Michael's vehicle, a 2000 Buick Century, was in a ditch on Stony Run Lane. The caller told police that he or she first spotted the car on Feb. 8, but, at first, thought nothing of it.
Snowfall hindered the initial search of the area surrounding Michael's car; however, on the afternoon of Feb. 11, police made a startling discovery when they found his body in a wooded area roughly two-tenths of a mile from the location where his car was located.
"The victim was pronounced dead at the scene by the Monroe County Coroner David Thomas," read the police criminal complaint, which was authored by Officers Craig Vanlouvender and James Wheeler. "On Feb. 11, 2009, at approximately 1800 hours, Trooper Craig Vanlouvender spoke with Coroner David Thomas, who advised Trooper Vanlouvender that the victim suffered what appeared to be twenty sharp forced injuries."
The report further states that a cleaver and a knife were found in close proximity to the body. The handle of the knife was wrapped in duct tape. During a further search of the area, investigators found a discarded roll of duct tape under a nearby bridge. The tape was similar to that found on the handle of the knife, so investigators bagged it as evidence.
During the course of the investigation, investigators learned that Michael was supposed to meet with Freemore on the night of his disappearance. When police questioned Freemore, he waived his right to an attorney and agreed to talk to them.
During the ride to the police station, investigators drove past the crime scene, at which time Freemore allegedly asked them, "Did they find that guy [Michael] yet? I hope they find him OK. I know him."
Back at police headquarters, Freemore admitted to meeting Michael in Jan. 2009, and also to having a sexual encounter with him.
"The defendant related that they had this encounter inside the victim's car, off Snowhill Road in Prince Township Monroe County," reads the criminal complaint. "The defendant related that a second encounter had been arranged with the victim and was scheduled to take place late on February 3, into early February 4, 2009."
Freemore initially told police that Michael never showed up for the second meeting; however he later changed his story, saying, "I didn't mean to kill him." He then told police a second version, in which he said that Michael attempted to have sex with him but he refused and got out of the car. Michael allegedly followed him, at which time Freemore said he pulled out a knife. A confrontation ensued, during which Freemore stabbed Michael in the neck and stomach. While the victim struggled on the ground, Freemore continued the brutal attack, stabbing Michael multiple times about the body. Afterwards, he said, he went through victim's pockets and covered him in snow.
After giving his statement to police, Freemore agreed to ride with them to areas relevant to their investigation. During the course of the ride, Freemore again changed his story, this time implicating Seagraves in the incident.
According to Freemore's third statement to police, the two teens had concocted a plan to "meet him, scare him, and kill him." Freemore told police that he had stabbed Michael in both the neck and stomach and that Seagraves had stabbed him in the neck. To back up his story, Freemore said that Seagraves had stolen a DVD of the movie Eagle Eye out of the victim's car and that it could be found at Seagraves' house.
Investigators later obtained a search warrant for Seagraves' residence, at which time they were able to locate the stolen DVD, along with wooden-handled knives that were similar to the one found at the murder scene.
Later that night, Seagraves, accompanied by his mother, went to the Swiftwater police barracks and willingly spoke with police. However, unlike Freemore, Seagraves was unwilling to implicate himself in the murder. Instead, he told police that he had never talked to or communicated with Michael.
Seagraves did, however, admit to being in Michael's car at one point, but he said that he did not know whose it was and had assumed someone had gotten stuck and had left it alongside the road. Seagraves said that the vehicle was unlocked and that he had gone inside and looked around. When asked if he had attempted to move the vehicle, Seagraves replied, "No, I only sat in the car. I was not trying to get the car out. I don't want to get linked to this murder thing." The questioning then came to an abrupt halt, as Seagraves' mother requested an attorney for her son.
The following day, investigators questioned Smith and another unidentified individual who informed them that Seagraves had admitted to helping Freemore kill Michael and had changed his MySpace moniker to "ThrOwt Stabba."
As a result of the mounting evidence against them, police arrested Freemore and Seagraves on charges of murder, aggravated assault, robbery, tampering with or fabricating physical evidence, and conspiracy.
Upon hearing the states case and listening to rebuttals from defense attorneys Joe D'Andrea for Seagraves and Wieslaw Niemoczynski for Freemore, Barrett Township magisterial district judge John Whitesell found that sufficient evidence had been presented for the case to proceed to trial.
After the hearing, Seagraves' mother, Kathleen Seagraves, told reporters her son had nothing to do with Michael's murder.
"My son was home that night like he was every night that week, playing video games," Kathleen Seagraves told poconorecord.com. "He was on probation at the time, so we made sure he was home. There's no way he could have done this."
In an interview with the same Web site, Michael's mother, Mary Ann Goucher, described the entire ordeal as a nightmare.
"Those kids planned premeditated murder," she said. "They're animals and should be put to sleep. I just want justice for my boy."
Both Freemore and Seagraves are being held in the county jail without bail. A trial date has not yet been set.
Related Links:
Two Pennsylvania Teens Stand Accused in Brutal Homicide Case
Photo Credits: iStock
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