Couple plead not guilty in death of nephew

By MEGAN STRICKLAND

Daily Inter Lake

A husband and wife pleaded not guilty June 15 to charges related to the murder of their nephew, whose decaying body was found early this month in a camper in Arlee.

Kassandra Seese, 23, pleaded not guilty to one felony count of accountability to deliberate homicide. Her husband, Stephen Seese, 25, pleaded not guilty to one felony count of deliberate homicide. 

The couple appeared separately before Lake County District Judge James Manley with a different public defender representing each of them. 

Manley set trial for mid-November. 

The body of Richard Warner, 18, was found crumpled in a shower on Coombs Lane near Arlee on June 2 after movers noticed a rancid smell of decay in the home. 

Detectives learned that Warner and the Seeses were all from Wallace, Idaho, but that Warner had spent the last year living in Arlee and Sanders County. 

Kassandra Seese allegedly told investigators that her husband beat Warner to death with a hammer on Feb. 17 after Warner allegedly lied about something. The body was then allegedly stashed in the shower. Seese told investigators that the couple and two young children lived in the camper with the decaying body for the next three months.

Lake County District Attorney Steve Eschenbacher said the cases might be tried together. 

Attorneys for both Stephen and Kassandra 

Seese resisted attempts by the Lake County Sheriff’s Office to obtain DNA swabs from them without search warrants. Eschenbacher said a search warrant would likely be sought for both defendants. 

Bail for both Stephen and Kassandra Seese is $100,000. They remain incarcerated in the Lake County Jail.