This question is apt in the case of Roy Seagraves, age 52, who's just been busted in relation to an attack on a teenager in Boulder. His alleged weapon of choice: a pair of scissors.
Seagraves should have grown accustomed to dealing with the law. He's got a shocking record, including a murder conviction and another assault, both of them involving stabbing. Photos and the startling details below.
Earlier this month, the Boulder Police Department released an alert about an incident that took place at about 10:21 p.m. Saturday, June 15, near the intersection of 13th and Spruce streets.
According to a department release, an eighteen-year-old male was walking with a female friend when a suspect lunged in his direction without provocation. The attacker reportedly held a pair of scissors to the victim's throat, but the teen was able to get away, although not before he suffered assorted cuts and abrasions that required treatment at a local hospital.The BPD subsequently released a detailed description of the man -- a white male between five-seven and five-ten, with a medium build, a receding hairline and a "sunken" face -- accompanied by a police sketch:
The sketch generated a tip, with the person who contacted police pointing officers in the direction of Seagraves, who clearly resembles the illustration. Cops concurred after comparing the sketch to one of Seagraves's mug shots, of which there are no shortage.He got the chance to pose for a new booking photo yesterday, after police in nearby Longmont received a tip of their own. At about 10:15 a.m., Seagraves was spotted on the 1500 block of Main Street in Longmont, and officers quickly located and arrested him without incident. He's being held on suspicion of attempted first-degree murder and first degree assault.
Serious charges, undeniably -- but not the heaviest he's faced.
Continue for more about the criminal past of Roy Seagraves, including photos. As noted by the Boulder Daily Camera, Seagraves has amassed a substantial rap sheet thanks to busts for a wide variety of crimes, including assault, drug possession and trespassing. His most recent arrest was just last month, when he was cuffed for a protection-order violation and, for good measure, jaywalking.Still, the most startling crime for which Seagraves has been convicted involves the 1982 slaying of 32-year-old Gary Stoner. According to this 2001 article in the Toledo Blade, where Stoner grew up and his parents continued to live, Stoner was stabbed dozens of times (the Blade says seventy, the Daily Camera 63) in the chest and head -- and his face was kicked in.
The slaying went unsolved for nearly two decades. Then, DNA collected from the crime scene scored a match with Seagraves, then forty, who was serving a five-year jolt for burglary. DNA databases weren't nearly as comprehensive twelve years ago as they are today, but cops got lucky: The sample in question came from hair found in Stoner's hand, and a tipster suggested they test it against Seagraves.Despite the grisly nature of the crime, though, Seagraves received a relatively light sentence -- just twelve years, of which he only served six. He was out by 2007, when he was arrested for yet another stabbing -- this time "over a stolen children's bike," the Camera notes. But while he eventually returned to a cell, it wasn't over his latest bit of blade-wielding. In 2009, he's said to have pleaded guilty to drug possession in exchange for the assault charges being dropped. His prize for doing so was a three-to-five year prison sentence coupled with two years parole.
Simple math tells us that Seagraves didn't serve the maximum amount of this punishment, either. As such, he was back on the streets in time to allegedly come within millimeters of slashing a man's throat.
Seagraves's bond has been set at $500,000, so it's unlikely that he'll be going anywhere soon. But given his success at minimizing his jail time despite a slew of nasty offenses, he may yet taste freedom again -- and have more opportunities to commit violence against those in his vicinity.
Here's the latest booking photo of Roy Seagraves.
More from our Colorado Crimes archive: "Gregory Hauptmann busted in David Hernandez hit-and-run after taking car for repair."
