“All of the seasoning in the world doesn’t prepare you for the fact that the president of Exxon is missing.”
“Every minute and hour that goes by everybody’s concern is being raised. They’re desperate for Sydney Riso’s safe return and the arrest of the kidnappers.”
“It was a scene like the movie Dirty Harry where they were taking me from one location to another.”
“This was as brutal a crime as one can imagine.”
“He had to have been in enormous pain not just physically but psychologically.”
“In the New York City suburb of Morris Township New Jersey the morning of April 29th 1992 starts like any other for Sydney Riso and his wife Patricia.”
“He was the president of the international division of the Exxon Corporation.”
“Good morning dear.”
“Good morning.”
“Sid was very uh down to earth uh family man churchgoing very very nice uh nice guy.”
“Have a good one.”
“Every morning the high-powered executive follows the same modest routine.”
“Many other people at the Fortune 500 companies uh around the country availed themselves of the services of chauffeurs and uh and private drivers and limousines, but Sid Ritzo who was a very humble man every day drove to the end of his driveway picked up the local newspaper. He drove himself off to Exxon.”
“He left his residence around 7:25 in the morning and uh one of the neighbors noticed the car probably about a half an hour after that.”
“Called Mrs Russo she obviously knew this was out of character and became quite concerned naturally and immediately called the Morris Township Police Department.”
“No one can believe it. Sydney Riso seems to have vanished without a trace.”
“All of the seasoning in the world doesn’t prepare you for the fact that the president of Exxon is missing.”
“And investigators concerns quickly mount when they learn that Riso has a heart condition.”
“Perhaps he had gotten ill and wandered off from the car maybe perhaps being disoriented and that was why the Morris County uh prosecutor’s office called in a search and rescue dog team to comb that area for in the potential that Mr Riso could be lying there.”
“But the search comes up empty and while authorities continue to scour the surrounding area detectives have to consider the possibility that Russo disappeared on purpose.”
“Mr Russo is one enormously successful too very decent man great relationship with his wife and his family so there was no reason to believe that suddenly he had a break with reality and would have run away from it. So at that point probably within half an hour or so we begin to treat this as a missing person’s case with an eye towards kidnapping.”
“It isn’t long before a team from the FBI’s Newark field office descends on Morris Township to support the investigation.”
“Your mind is very much open to any possibility we didn’t really know exactly what we had. I was unsure whether it was a missing person’s or if it was a kidnapping. We looked in the area around the car for any blood stain shell casing cigarette butts anything that seemed to be out of place. There was really no significant uh forensic uh evidence of value that was recovered that first day.”
“As a next step the bureau alongside local law enforcement establishes a command center in the Riso’s den.”
“We had no idea whether or not the family may be in jeopardy as well so to have the command post at that location served two purposes: protect the family and keep the integrity of the the crime scene. Traditionally in any type of kidnapping there’s a telephone call made to the victim’s family so we did set up a trap and trace so we could record any calls and trace the origin that were made to the house. We also put agents on the perimeter for surveillance purposes see if anyone was coming by checking the neighborhood.”
“But the hours pass with no word on Russo.”
“There was no ransom demand initially so we were kind of perplexed as to what his status was.”
“Every minute and hour that goes by everybody’s concern is being raised.”
“By the end of the first 24 hours investigators have no witnesses no leads and no way of bringing Sydney Riso home.”
“Then at 10:13 the next morning a disturbing phone call comes into Exxon headquarters in Floren Park New Jersey.”
“A female caller instructs company representatives to retrieve a letter from a light pole at the nearby Livingston Mall.”
“It had the uh the information in it about the uh who Sydney Riso was in the background information uh we had received his his credit card that proved that they had Sydney Riso in custody. It was signed Fernando Pereira Brigade Warriors of the Rainbow.”
“The items give investigators some insight into the kidnapper’s level of expertise.”
“At this point somebody actually kidnapped Mr Russo and they had done it you know fairly efficiently and by the way and including the credit card it made us realize that this is somebody that knows what they’re doing.”
“The letter also demands an $18.5 million ransom to compensate for Exxon’s environmental transgressions but the terms are complicated.”
“We would obtain a cellular telephone uh published the number in the newspaper reversing the the last four digits so the the number that was in the newspaper only they would know to call reversing the last four digits.”
“The notes themselves gave us a great deal of anxiety not only the ransom demand how excessive it was but because of the fact uh the notes purported to be from a group of environmental terrorists and the letter comes with a stern warning: ‘Mr Riso will be held in total isolation with no food or water if you do not fully comply you will most certainly die.’”
“When it’s a life-threatening situation I mean we’re professionally engaged but you also can’t help but be emotionally engaged in this. A lot of high energy uh involved in in a case like this. It’s sort of a race against time. You want to get this resolved quickly so that you can get that person back.”
“24 hours after the abduction of Exxon International President Sydney Riso.”
“All FBI agents have to work with is a mysterious demand letter and a ticking clock.”
“Most people can go several days without food but after 3 to 5 days with no water the body begins to shut down and Sydney Riso’s heart condition makes matters even worse.”
“A lot depends on their health a lot depends on their temperature.”
“While investigators desperately await the next communication they do their best to get a bead on the environmental group taking responsibility for the abduction.”
“They call themselves the Rainbow Warrior and it was signed Fernando Pereira Brigade.”
“Fernando Pereira was a member of Greenpeace which is an environmental uh group and uh back in 1985 they had a ship called the Rainbow Warrior uh that was actually blown up uh by French agents and during the course of that incident there was a photographer on board the the Rainbow Warrior by the name of Fernando Pereira that was killed. Their demand was $18.5 million perhaps that was uh their figure for reparations for the Exxon Valdes.”
“Investigators scour their criminal databases but find no evidence of a group called Warriors of the Rainbow.”
“Still agents suspect the culprits could be tied to a faction operating within the radical environmental movement.”
“This also happened right around the time that the Earth Summit was going to be uh held in Rio de Janeiro so there were a number of factors that were leading us towards the ecological uh terrorist group.”
“But as the environmental leads begin to dry up the investigative team grows increasingly concerned. They have no idea what condition Riso is in or how long he can hold out. One thing they do know however is that Exxon has a history of paying large ransoms.”
“In 1974 an Exxon executive by the name of Victor Samuelson was kidnapped and he was kidnapped in Argentina and Exxon paid a ransom demand of 14.5 million. Eventually Samuelson was released and it’s believed that the kidnappers were never captured.”
“The FBI never makes a recommendation to the family members whether or not they should pay a ransom. They always leave that decision to the family members or employers as it was in in this case uh however we have found that it is very unwise to ever pay a ransom unless you have absolute proof that the victim is currently alive.”
“But Exxon’s willing to pay again if it means saving Riso’s life.”
“With nothing new to go on investigators turn their attention to the ransom letter itself.”
“And what we look for are things within the forensics area of are there fingerprints on the paper do they contain any DNA uh this letter happened to have been type typewritten so we potentially can identify the typewriter but the results are disappointing. There were no fingerprints uh the typewriter was identified as being an IBM Select Electric 2 which would be sold in numerous stores throughout the United States. We weren’t getting very many leads from that particular end of things but we were getting some information from our behavioral science people.”
“FBI profilers at Quantico feel the kidnappers are self-absorbed.”
“One of the big issues in a case like this is the narcissism of the individuals and by that I’m talking about their sense that they’re smarter than anyone else. The narcissism was apparent in the communications. Initially it was don’t get the police or the FBI involved while it became clear very quickly that we were involved. Then it was well we’re not really concerned they felt they could outsmart us. So right away you know you’re dealing with with narcissistic personalities they think they can outsmart the police the FBI and and everyone else.”
“And something else about the correspondence strikes a chord.”
“Only about a quarter of the letter dealt with ecology and about 3/4 of it or so dealt with the money. So what’s the focus what are they really interested in? Looked to us like they were interested primarily in the money and that the echotterrorism thing was just a a charade camouflage uh to misdirect the investigation.”
“We thought the possibility of maybe it was an environmental group but again there’s the money. Most criminals will do this for the money they’re not there to make a political statement.”
“But while the kidnappers real motive remains a question mark one thing is for sure Sydney Riso’s time is running out and law enforcement is feeling the pressure.”
“Well in a case like this every waking moment and even sleepless nights were consumed by the the conduct of this investigation.”
“48 hours after the abduction investigators run a classified ad with the cell phone number specified in the ransom note and it isn’t long before they get a response.”
“24.”
“It seemed that the kidnapper was either holding his nose to disguise his voice or that he was garbling his voice somehow which made it very difficult to be able to recognize a voice.”
“The question that we kept asking the kidnappers is we need current proof visible or otherwise of the continuing well-being of the kidnapped victim.”
“They had his voice on tape which they were able to play for us but no one can confirm that the voice is in fact Risos.”
“The stress in the voice uh the circumstances that he was under uh being kidnapped held for ransom and uh that tape recording was played for the family who at that time weren’t able to recognize it as Sydney Russo’s voice.”
“The instructions are straightforward and too brief to offer investigators any new insights.”
“The exact words were um go to Lewis Mars Park and look on the ground for a letter.”
“At the time there was a a white rock and by that white rock was a uh a letter sealed letter.”
“It set out all the directions and information and what the kidnappers were looking to accomplish.”
“This new letter expresses displeasure that information was leaked to the press and threatens the kidnapping of two more Exxon employees if their demands are not met.”
“That created another problem for me personally because now I had to deploy even more of my staff to guard other Exxon executives.”
“The kidnappers instruct corporate staff to place the money in Eddie Bower duffel bags and await further instructions.”
“This is one of the uh Eddie Bower bags that we were asked to put the money in for for the ransom demand and we were ordered to have 10 of these available. I don’t think he realized that that $18.5 million American currency uh wrapped up in cash filled 15 duffel bags.”
“Then on May 3rd 4 days after the kidnapping the task force gets another call and this time investigators are able to gather critical new clues.”
“The very first indication we had of anyone involved was a female and then shortly after that a male was involved in a communication so now we have a couple.”
“The location of the of the communications and telephone calls were all in a two or threeount area and that led us to believe that our kidnappers were not some international terrorist group that our kidnappers were based within the uh same geographic area as the communications were coming from.”
“The caller asks for an Exxon representative to wait at a phone booth outside a restaurant in Summit New Jersey for more details. He’s also instructed to have the ransom money with him.”
“I assumed the role of James Moracus who was the public information officer.”
“Dozens of backup agents and police officers move into position with a single-minded objective: bring Sydney Riso home in one piece. But they know all too well they’re at the mercy of an unpredictable enemy.”
“Our concern from the behavioral science unit was that can we keep these people on the hook can we keep them communicating with us? If they shut down and they disappear and they get scared and they run away our job of finding them and finding Riso can get that person back.”
“4 days after the abduction of Sydney Riso a bureau special agent posing as an Exxon executive awaits the most recent instructions at a restaurant pay phone in Summit New Jersey.”
“More than 100 agents and detectives are positioned in the vicinity ready to spring into action.”
“It was a go and we truly believe that we’re going to make this drop and hopefully make the arrest.”
“Unknown to the kidnappers the ransom money is still at the Riso home. Instead there are 10 bags stuffed with cutup newspaper in the back of Sydney Riso’s car that an FBI agent is driving.”
“This uh specific location was the area where I was supposed to get the first phone call uh we were all prepared all of a sudden there’s no communication i mean it’s quiet there’s nothing going on and it was like a silence that you like you could cut with a knife. It was like ‘Oh god what happened here?’ You know and and now since um one of the responsible people in the command post everybody’s turning towards me and saying ‘What happened here?’ You know ‘What did it go bad what occurred?’ And I’m saying ‘I don’t I don’t know.’”
“Hours go by with no word from the kidnappers.”
“It was really a frustrating night and all we needed for them was to make the call and and us to proceed with the directions. So after hours of waiting and not getting that phone call I think everybody involved was uh really disheartened by the fact that nothing happened.”
“The drop is a bust and with time running out for Sydney Riso the task force scrambles for anything that can keep their investigation alive.”
“They soon turned back to the behavioral science unit at Quantico where agents review the most recent data on the suspects.”
“What’s the profile and uh we told them well it’s a white couple middle-aged yuppies or wannabe yuppies um in Morristown New Jersey they live there and uh they have a golden retriever and they’re in financially desperate situations and the uh the male the offender dominant offender either has law enforcement background or security background or maybe maybe both.”
“We base everything on the totality of the evidence and the circumstance. The original letters were going up to the lab well they were finding golden retriever hair in those letters which fit in with the the the yepiness uh now where did that come from? They were demanding $18.5 million and they wanted them put in 10 green Eddie Bower duffel bags. You could just say 10 duffel bags but they were they were being specific they wanted Eddie Bower duffel bags well who wants Eddie B this is a yep-ish uh sort of thing so it was that flavor that just kept leaking out of the communications. He’s talking about surveillances and using terms that were sort of unique or or um to law enforcement or or security.”
“The Morristown New Jersey why why do we think they were there because they wanted uh the communications in the Star Ledger newspaper.”
“Narrow down the universe of suspects to about 100 million people agents must also take into account that one or both kidnappers could be disgruntled former employees.”
“This case grew and grew and grew. We had u 10,000 employee records from Exxon of people that either had been fired or let go. Exxon had had a massive layoff in the previous year so we had any number of employees involved there. So instead of getting smaller our investigation got bigger and bigger.”
“Days go by without any further instructions from the kidnappers and no word on Riso’s condition.”
“We had a lull in any uh communication with the kidnappers which was very uh frustrating and concerned us a great deal because anytime you lose communication with a kidnapper you always are concerned for the worst possible scenario.”
“Then an agonizing 11 days later the kidnappers finally reach out to Riso’s wife Patricia but this time they have a crude and bizarre demand. They want Mrs Riso to make a public statement.”
“I know in my heart that he’s alive I pray that he is healthy.”
“It it was so offensive to me that they made this demand of this woman who’d already been victimized to appear and beg for the life of her husband.”
“I love Sydney and I want him to come home to us and I hope that he will be released very soon.”
“I am making a personal appeal to some people who I want to believe have my husband with them.”
“At the kidnapper’s request Patricia Russo makes a public statement indicating she has received their message. It’s a strange demand but investigators believe the kidnappers are trying to show that they are in control.”
“I am willing to do whatever is necessary to have him reunited with us.”
“Still the appeal seems to fall on deaf ears as another two weeks go by with little communication from Sydney Riso’s abductors.”
“There was an enormous amount of pressure that built and built in this case. Sometimes a weeks of frustration we heard nothing from the kidnappers and you’re desperate for some contact desperate for some breaks some glimmer of hope that would lead you to one Sydney Riso’s safe return and two the arrest of the kidnappers.”
“The task force soon moves from the Riso home to a Morris County prosecutor’s office where investigators can work around the clock to turn up new leads.”
“In one instance um we learned that the girlfriend of a person that’s been convicted of a numer numerous heinous crimes in this county was actually working in an office very close to Sydney Reos so I just thought this was it but that was one of those leads that went flat. There were hundreds and hundreds of leads that just went flat.”
“There are many times in the command center I used to walk out and take a break for a cup of coffee and realize with everything we had deployed all the people all the investigative skills all the techniques all the technology my only fear was that the kidnappers wouldn’t come and ask for the money so there’s a lot of pressure on us a lot of pressure on everybody to keep this thing going and to get a resolution.”
“For about two weeks there is a lull in communication from the kidnappers then in the beginning of June over a month since Sydney Riso’s abduction the task force gets the call they’ve been waiting for.”
“We received a telephone call at 2:55 p.m uh indicating that we should be ready for something to happen and between that time until almost 9:00 at night we received several more phone calls indicating that something was going to be happening that we should be prepared for. The momentum and the excitement was building cuz we knew that people were going to be in danger there was a lot of uh a lot of tension a lot of focus.”
“And at about 8 minutes after 9 on the night of June 18th we received a a phone call that basically said ‘Leave now.’ Go to road T I T.”
“They were directed to go to uh Tingly Road at Patriots Path and pick up a letter.”
“The kidnappers instruct the Riso family to be ready to bring them the ransom money in Sid Ro’s car. Riso’s daughter Renee will accompany Exxon public relations head Jim Maracus. Further directions will follow.”
“We had a an undercover female FBI agent driving the vehicle who resembled Renee Russo and I assumed the role of Jim Maracus. The delivery car was a small subcompact station wagon um the rear tire had been removed so that an agent could secrete himself um armed with an automatic weapon beneath the bags. We took stringent steps not only to be able to apprehend the kidnappers but also to protect our personnel.”
“The agents are wired and their vehicle has been painted with chemicals so that a surveillance plane overhead can track their every move.”
“The letter instructs the drop team to proceed to a general store 5 miles away but at 9:23 p.m the cell phone in the delivery car rings and the kidnappers ask the agent impersonating Riso’s daughter a question she can’t answer.”
“Who are you?”
“I’m Renee.”
“Address in Houston.”
“What you have a dress in Houston? I don’t live in Houston I live in Washington DC. Mom and dad live in Houston I.”
“This is Jim uh Rene is pretty upset we’re in route we got your directions and and we’re in route right now we’re making the turn just bear with us because we’re not used to doing this we’re a little nervous.”
“Hello.”
“The kidnappers keep the drop team on the run through the hills of New Jersey unsure of their final destination or the status of Sydney Riso.”
“We’re rushing as quickly as we can.”
“Frustrations grow as agents are instructed to proceed to yet another location a train station in Far Hills New Jersey. Still the team has no choice but to go along with the kidnapper’s instructions. It’s clear that even the slightest misstep could have dire consequences and time is quickly running out.”
“It was out of a scene like the movie Dirty Harry where they were taking me from one location to another and just not knowing where I was going to be led but just hoping that at the end of the day we’d have a shot at arresting these people.”
“Meanwhile 250 FBI agents and an additional 100 local officers stake out area phone booths looking for any sign of suspicious activity.”
“Special Agent Carrie Brazinski had positioned herself at one of her locations which it was at the Chester Mall and she was just getting herself settled in her vehicle when she noticed another vehicle pulloff and it seemed rather strange because there were no stores open in that section of the mall and as Carrie watched a white male proceeded to make a telephone call and she noticed him because he was wearing latex gloves at the time.”
“At that exact moment a call comes in on the kidnapper’s line before we answered the cell phone.”
“I have eyes on someone making a call right now.”
“We would get on the radio and tell all the surveillance teams ‘We have an incoming phone call watch your pay phone.’”
“In the command post we were receiving information from the telephone company of where a call was being traced to and it was to the Chester Mall and agent Carrie Brzinski got the description of the individual the license plate of the vehicle and description of the vehicle that the individual was driving.”
“As agents run the plates on the mysterious caller the drop team arrives at the Far Hills train station.”
“The instructions are for Jim Moracus to board the next train with the money but they’re too late the train has already come and gone.”
“Well this was the um final destination where I was supposed to get onto the train with the money and be in a position to drop the money where he directed me to drop it. After sending me from one location to another there just was not enough time allotted for me to get here and able to get on the train that he had wanted me to get on. The delivery team uh were told to go fast and then slow down it it was very difficult for them to try to uh make the deadlines that were demanded by the the kidnappers.”
“I was waiting with great anticipation for the next set of instructions which I hoped would be to get on to the next train and waiting for the phone uh to ring. That phone call never came.”
“But while the mission appears to have hit a dead end the search for the man from the Chester Mall pay phone is just heating up.”
“We then could trace the uh registration of that vehicle as being a rental vehicle coming back to Betty’s rental which was out in Hacketttown New Jersey. We sent a group of agents and local law enforcement out there to be able to interview Betty and potentially find the rental agreement with the hopes that we would get more information about who rented this vehicle.”
“At the rental agency the team spots a man and woman about to return a car.”
“Sir for a moment.”
“Investigators can hardly believe their eyes.”
“The man and the car match the description given by the Chester Mall agent to a tea.”
“I told him I said ‘You know we’ve been looking for Mr Riso you know he’s missing.’”
“He tells me ‘Oh yeah i’ve heard about that.’”
“And I told him ‘Well let me tell you something he’s not missing he’s been kidnapped.’ And you did it now where is he?”
“Sir how you doing?”
“After an exasperating two-month game of cat and mouse the task force finally arrests two suspects in the kidnapping of Sydney Riso.”
“Local couple Arthur and Irene Seal.”
“They look like a very typical middle class suburban yepy couple.”
“In the mid 80s Arthur Seal an ex- cop was working as a security expert at Exxon International and even claimed to have helped devise their policy on executive security.”
“He earned a good salary and owned an expensive home.”
“This was a man based on his his behaviors and his grandiose ideas in my estimation who really had a had a burning desire to live the lifestyles of the rich and famous. He got some money at the time of his uh of his departure from Exxon they were having reductions in force and he took that money and instead of investing it buying a house training himself for some other position he wanted to be in resorts he wanted to be where where international uh uh travelers and uh and the uh the cream of society gathered. They envisioned a lifestyle that uh was really above their means. They believed that they were entitled to a better uh lifestyle than they had and that this was the this was like hitting the lotto for them. They were going to going to score big and and then live the life they wanted to live.”
“I think their grandiose ideas uh led them to this decision to kidnap an Exxon executive and I think they felt Sydney Riso was probably the most accessible of those that they looked at.”
“Now the race is on to find out whether their victim is alive or dead.”
“Arthur Seal consented to a search of his car and in his trunk there were Exxon personnel directories uh some plastic bags shovels other other evidence which lead us to believe that this was somebody who was involved in the kidnapping.”
“But there is no indication of Sydney Riso’s whereabouts and so far the seals aren’t talking.”
“As time continues to run out investigators top priority is finding Sydney Riso. With the two suspects in jail Riso is most likely on his own and possibly in need of immediate medical attention.”
“Desperate to find him before it’s too late a team quickly descends on the SEAL’s nearby residence. To their dismay there’s no sign of the kidnapped executive but they do find more evidence linking them to the crime: an instruction manual for wouldbe money launderers and information on foreign bank accounts. There are also several weapons and a brand new passport application. But the most critical discovery is a document connecting the seals to a storage unit in Washington New Jersey.”
“I was elated uh I was convinced beyond any reasonable doubt that Sydney Riso was alive and uh the storage unit was empty and uh there was no sign of Sydney Riso or or any of his belongings.”
“With Arthur Seal still refusing to talk agents only hope is to get Irene also known as Jackie to come clean before it’s too late.”
“And I was elated that both of them were in custody and I would have a shot at the interviewing Irene Seal.”
“Eventually Jackie cuts a deal with the prosecutor and after a roller coaster 7 weeks authorities finally learned the full truth behind the tragic case of Sydney Riso.”
“According to Jackie the couple observed Russo for months before finally taking action. But on the day of his abduction the plan quickly goes ary.”
“He was shot in the arm and the shot entered at the the lower part of the forearm and exited above the elbow so it was a a fairly massive wound.”
“The SEALs restrain their injured captive and place him in a wooden coffin-like box that Arthur Seal had built just for that purpose. They then placed the box in a storage facility with no light and little ventilation. The seals would return just twice daily to give Riso a small amount of water and vitamins.”
“Should we be looking for something?”
“I asked her if she gave him anything to eat and she said no. She said ‘We didn’t.’”
“I said ‘How could you not feed him?’ She said ‘We didn’t make any arrangements for him to relieve himself.’”
“I can’t even imagine how difficult it had to be and u the insensitivity of them both Arthur and Jackie Seal. I said it’s been 52 days and the family’s gone through an agonizing time not knowing whether their loved one was dead or alive and I said ‘If you were me would you be looking for someone who was dead or alive?’”
“And she just dropped her head and I just gently picked up her chin i said ‘Dead or alive?’”
“And she said ‘Probably dead.’”
“I said ‘How can you be sure?’”
“She said ‘Well,’ she says ‘I helped him bring the body into this wooded area.’”
“Jackie Seal always seemed to be somewhat detached from the investigation and from the potential trouble that she was in. She often spoke about running aerobics classes in the jail or cleaning her jail cell uh she she did not seem to have a real connection to what had happened during this investigation that they had kidnapped an individual and that he had died as a result of them kidnapping him. There didn’t seem to be a reality with her as to what was going on.”
“Inside the unventilated metal storage unit temperatures likely climbed to over 100°.”
“This is a horrific crime the way they conducted it was as inhuman as one can imagine to be taken away from your family in the hands of strangers placed inside this airless perforated nothing could better describe it than a a a pre-death coffin and uh he had to have been enormous pain not just physically but psychologically.”
“By day four Sydney Riso simply stops breathing.”
“Not to be able to rescue him alive was I think difficult for everyone involved because we all you know had hoped that would be the outcome.”
“Jackie Seal insists that Sydney Riso’s death was an accident that she and her husband never meant for him to die.”
“But Arthur Seal’s defense attorney goes a step further arguing that Riso died from natural causes.”
“I don’t know if dying in a shed in 9° temperature where you can’t even get up to relieve yourself is dying of natural causes. They knew Sydney Reszo had a heart condition they knew he needed medication they never fed the man they gave him crushed vitamins and water to sustain him so that’s natural causes? Arthur Seal’s definition natural causes is different than mine.”
“In her defense Jackie claims to be a battered wife under the spell of a tyrant husband.”
“Jackie’s mother uh never liked Art so Mom went in to see Jackie and um had a heart-to-heart with her and I think convinced her that she needed to do the right thing and cut herself loose from Art and take care of herself for once and not not be sucked into this thing with Arty and that really opened the door.”
“It was critical that we had the cooperation of Jackie Seal because she was ultimately able to lead us to where the body was was buried. It was all the way in the southern New Jersey in this area called the Pine Barons.”
“We don’t actually know the cause of death. The medical examiner could only say that it there it was a violent act and that it was homicide but he could not give us any medical reason.”
“On July 1st Jackie Seal pleads guilty in exchange for her cooperation she gets a reduced sentence of 20 years in prison.”
“She is eligible for release as early as November 2009.”
“Arthur Seal originally pleads not guilty then in September of 1992 changes his plea to guilty.”
“He is sentenced to 95 years without parole and a consecutive life sentence on federal and state extortion conspiracy and kidnapping charges.”
“He’s just pure evil he’s just pure evil.”
“I think anyone who worked the case was certainly affected by the outcome of the case because we all collectively had worked so hard hoping to rescue Sydney Riso arrest the individuals responsible for his kidnapping and unfortunately we arrested the kidnappers but were not able to save Sydney Riso.”
