Heriberto Seda

Infobox Serial Killer
name=Eddie Seda


caption=
birthname=Heriberto Seda
alias="The New York Zodiac Killer"
birth=July 31, 1967
location=
death=
cause=
victims=3
country=U.S.
states=New York
beginyear=1990
endyear=1994
apprehended=1994
penalty=235 years

Heriberto "Eddie" Seda (born July 31, 1967) is a serial killer who struck New York City from 1990 to 1994. Before being caught on June 18 1996, Seda killed three people and critically wounded four. Seda is believed to have admired San Francisco’s Zodiac Killer for avoiding capture. In 1998, Seda was convicted and sentenced to 235 years imprisonment.

Background

Seda gave the impression of being a very religious man and attended church regularly. He lived with his mother and half sister in East New York, where he didn't work and often kept to himself. At the age of 16, Seda dropped out of high school when he was caught carrying a weapon.

On November 17, 1989, East New York’s 75th Precinct began receiving letters with the heading: "This is the zodiac". The first letter contained a warning of 12 murders, one for each sign in the Zodiac. The letter also claimed that one murder had already taken place, but with no evidence the police dismissed the letter as a hoax, which the police are accustomed to receiving. The letter contained a drawing of a circle with lines running through it dividing the circle into 12 sections, each part representing a sign in the zodiac.

Capture

Seda was mentally and physically abusive to his half-sister, Gladys Reyes. During a confrontation with her and her boyfriend, Seda pulled out a weapon and began threatening the couple. While Reyes' boyfriend hid in the bedroom, Reyes tried to escape through the front door, but Seda shot her in the buttocks. Wounded but not incapacitated, she made her way to her neighbor’s apartment where she called the police. After a standoff with the police, Seda was arrested. [cite news |first= |last= |authorlink= |coauthors= |title=Suspect Is Charged in 4 Zodiac Cases in Queens |url=http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E03E6DC1539F931A15755C0A960958260 |quote=A Brooklyn man who the police say is the Zodiac killer -- a gunman who fatally shot three people and wounded five others in twin crime waves in the early 1990's -- was formally charged in the case yesterday. |publisher=New York Times |date=June 22, 1996 |accessdate=2008-07-07 ] When asked to write a report on what had happened, Seda wrote in a fashion one of the detectives found strikingly similar to that of the Zodiac killer, especially due to his signature symbol he wrote at the end of all of his letters, which he claimed signified God. He was later convicted and pleaded guilty to several counts of murder and attempted murder.

Victims

In popular culture

*The crimes committed by Seda were the subject of an episode of "Forensic Files" as well as an episode of "Psychic Detectives". In the early hours of March 2, 2007, CourtTV aired these episodes back-to-back to promote the film "Zodiac".
*Seda's crimes as well as his capture are spoken of in the Robert Graysmith true crime novel "Zodiac Unmasked".

ee also

*"Zodiac" (film)
*"Zodiac" (book)
*Sakakibara Seito

References

External links

* [http://www.crimelibrary.com/serial_killers/weird/seda/seda_5.htm Heriberto Seda] at the Crime Library
* [http://www.thecrimeweb.com/heriberto_seda.htm The Crime Web]