The Kidnapping and Murder of Sidney Reso - 1992
In the early morning hours of April 19, 1992, Sidney Reso was kidnapped from his beautiful Morris Township, NJ home. Reso, a 57-year old Exxon executive was captured as he walked to the end of the driveway to retrieve his newspaper. Sidney Reso, shown at right, would never come home, thanks to his kidnappers, Arthur and Irene Seale.
I grew up in Hunterdon County, NJ and the kidnapping occurred about 20 miles from where I lived. I was in high school at the time of the kidnapping and I was fascinated with the case. I remember reading The Star-Ledger everyday to see if they had any updates. Hunterdon County is a very rural area as is Morris County, where Reso lived. Crime is not commonplace in either county so a kidnapping was big local news and talk of the town. In addition to the kidnapping, Hunterdon County had two other “famous” crimes happen there. The Lindberg baby kidnapping took place in 1932 and the shooting of Jayson Williams’ limo driver happened in 2002.
When the police arrested Arthur and Irene Seale, the case became more personal. I went to school with Courtney Seale, the daughter of Arthur and Irene Seale. She lived five minutes away on Musconectong River Road in Lebanon Township. She lived with her grandparents and attended Voorhees High School. Courtney stood out in our conservative high school with her “different” style of dress and hairdo’s. She was very quiet, wore all black with dark make-up and nails. Her hair is naturally brown but she sometimes dyed it black and shaved it in the back. At one point I remember her dressing “normal” and wearing colors but that soon faded back to black. Courtney was very friendly with a nice smile. She was one grade level above me but I remember having a few classes with her. She was always nice, rarely participated in class discussions but she was smart and got good grades. I will talk more about Courtney’s current life later.
Arthur and Irene Seale also lived with his parents. They were broke and desperate so they decided to become criminals to get themselves out of debt. Years earlier, Arthur worked at Exxon as a security guard and then as a security advisor. Ironically, he helped develop Exxon’s policy for executive kidnappings. They were living the good life as he was earning a six figure income. The couple bought a $400,000 home and they drove matching white Mercedes convertibles. Arthur was fired in 1987 and he and Irene started their own business furniture business on Hilton Head Island, SC. The business failed within a year and forced them to declare bankruptcy.
The couple and their two children, Courtney and Jason, moved to Vail, Colorado. Arthur worked as a stock broker and Irene worked off and on. They lived the “good life” to the outside but in reality they couldn’t afford it. After a few years, they were broke and moved back to live with Arthur’s parents in NJ. They couldn’t find work and eventually came up with the kidnapping idea. According to some reports, they also considered robbing a bank.
Arthur developed a plan of action. He cased the top Exxon executives to see who the best target would be. He chose Reso because he led a routine life. He always left around the same time in the morning and he always stopped to pick up the paper. Its been said Arthur watched Reso from his van for over a month before he kidnapped him.
On the morning of April 19, 1992, the Seale’s put their plan into action. Irene was behind the wheel of the van and Arthur jumped out to grab Reso as he went to pick up his newspaper at the end of the driveway. His eyes and mouth were taped shut and he was tied with a rope. At some point, Arthur shot him in the arm. He says it was accidental but the investigations think otherwise. They brought Russo to a storage facility in Washington, NJ- about 5 minutes away from where they lived with his parents. Ten minutes away from my house.
Arthur Seale made a wooden casket-like box and drilled holes in it for air. They left him bound and gagged and put him in the box. They did not treat his gun shot wound but gave him aspirin, an orange and some water. Basically, he was left to die. Investigators believe he suffered and then died four days after his kidnapping. After Reso died, the couple drove to the Pine Barrens- another rural area of NJ, which is about an hour and 15 minutes away from the storage facility. They dumped the body off the side of the road.
Shortly after the kidnapping, the Seale’s contacted Exxon and Reso’s wife demanding $18.5 million dollars as ransom. They declared themselves to be an environmental activist group known as “The Rainbow Warriors.” Over the course of the next few days, they made 12 calls and sent 8 letters to police. Even after Reso died, they continued to contact his family and police. The Seale’s led the police on a wild goose chase a couple of times to drop the money and finally the police outsmarted them. They traced the location of Arthur’s payphone call and saw him wearing gloves. The followed him and watched as he met up with his wife. The police followed the couple home, where they arrested them.
The couple ended up turning on each other and Irene struck a deal with police and led them to the body. Police then learned about the storage facility and the box where they kept him. Both plead guilty for their crimes and Arthur Seale was sentenced to life in prison. He is serving his time in North Dakota. Irene Seale got 20 years for her role in the murder and is serving her time in a NJ prison.
Courtney Seale has also turned to a life of crime. According to The Denver Post, Courtney has been arrested more than 60 times for larceny, drugs, assault and prostitution. You can see the many faces of Courtney Seale in this photo. In the lower left photo, Courtney had her jaw wired shut after she was injured in a beating. The upper left photo is how I remember Courtney. It is a tragic end to a tragic story.
I have to wonder if Courtney Seale ever had a chance. After her parent’s crime, Courtney dropped out of school but still remained in the area for a while. She dated an acquaintance of mine when I was a senior in high school and I remember seeing her at parties and get-togethers. Nobody ever mentioned the crime or her parents- at least not when she was around. The last I heard of Courtney, she had moved to Colorado. I did a simple internet search and found out what happened to her and it saddened me.
Please follow any of the links or visit Court TV’s Crime Library for more information.
I grew up in Hunterdon County, NJ and the kidnapping occurred about 20 miles from where I lived. I was in high school at the time of the kidnapping and I was fascinated with the case. I remember reading The Star-Ledger everyday to see if they had any updates. Hunterdon County is a very rural area as is Morris County, where Reso lived. Crime is not commonplace in either county so a kidnapping was big local news and talk of the town. In addition to the kidnapping, Hunterdon County had two other “famous” crimes happen there. The Lindberg baby kidnapping took place in 1932 and the shooting of Jayson Williams’ limo driver happened in 2002.
When the police arrested Arthur and Irene Seale, the case became more personal. I went to school with Courtney Seale, the daughter of Arthur and Irene Seale. She lived five minutes away on Musconectong River Road in Lebanon Township. She lived with her grandparents and attended Voorhees High School. Courtney stood out in our conservative high school with her “different” style of dress and hairdo’s. She was very quiet, wore all black with dark make-up and nails. Her hair is naturally brown but she sometimes dyed it black and shaved it in the back. At one point I remember her dressing “normal” and wearing colors but that soon faded back to black. Courtney was very friendly with a nice smile. She was one grade level above me but I remember having a few classes with her. She was always nice, rarely participated in class discussions but she was smart and got good grades. I will talk more about Courtney’s current life later.
Arthur and Irene Seale also lived with his parents. They were broke and desperate so they decided to become criminals to get themselves out of debt. Years earlier, Arthur worked at Exxon as a security guard and then as a security advisor. Ironically, he helped develop Exxon’s policy for executive kidnappings. They were living the good life as he was earning a six figure income. The couple bought a $400,000 home and they drove matching white Mercedes convertibles. Arthur was fired in 1987 and he and Irene started their own business furniture business on Hilton Head Island, SC. The business failed within a year and forced them to declare bankruptcy.
The couple and their two children, Courtney and Jason, moved to Vail, Colorado. Arthur worked as a stock broker and Irene worked off and on. They lived the “good life” to the outside but in reality they couldn’t afford it. After a few years, they were broke and moved back to live with Arthur’s parents in NJ. They couldn’t find work and eventually came up with the kidnapping idea. According to some reports, they also considered robbing a bank.Arthur developed a plan of action. He cased the top Exxon executives to see who the best target would be. He chose Reso because he led a routine life. He always left around the same time in the morning and he always stopped to pick up the paper. Its been said Arthur watched Reso from his van for over a month before he kidnapped him.
On the morning of April 19, 1992, the Seale’s put their plan into action. Irene was behind the wheel of the van and Arthur jumped out to grab Reso as he went to pick up his newspaper at the end of the driveway. His eyes and mouth were taped shut and he was tied with a rope. At some point, Arthur shot him in the arm. He says it was accidental but the investigations think otherwise. They brought Russo to a storage facility in Washington, NJ- about 5 minutes away from where they lived with his parents. Ten minutes away from my house.
Arthur Seale made a wooden casket-like box and drilled holes in it for air. They left him bound and gagged and put him in the box. They did not treat his gun shot wound but gave him aspirin, an orange and some water. Basically, he was left to die. Investigators believe he suffered and then died four days after his kidnapping. After Reso died, the couple drove to the Pine Barrens- another rural area of NJ, which is about an hour and 15 minutes away from the storage facility. They dumped the body off the side of the road.
Shortly after the kidnapping, the Seale’s contacted Exxon and Reso’s wife demanding $18.5 million dollars as ransom. They declared themselves to be an environmental activist group known as “The Rainbow Warriors.” Over the course of the next few days, they made 12 calls and sent 8 letters to police. Even after Reso died, they continued to contact his family and police. The Seale’s led the police on a wild goose chase a couple of times to drop the money and finally the police outsmarted them. They traced the location of Arthur’s payphone call and saw him wearing gloves. The followed him and watched as he met up with his wife. The police followed the couple home, where they arrested them.
The couple ended up turning on each other and Irene struck a deal with police and led them to the body. Police then learned about the storage facility and the box where they kept him. Both plead guilty for their crimes and Arthur Seale was sentenced to life in prison. He is serving his time in North Dakota. Irene Seale got 20 years for her role in the murder and is serving her time in a NJ prison.
Courtney Seale has also turned to a life of crime. According to The Denver Post, Courtney has been arrested more than 60 times for larceny, drugs, assault and prostitution. You can see the many faces of Courtney Seale in this photo. In the lower left photo, Courtney had her jaw wired shut after she was injured in a beating. The upper left photo is how I remember Courtney. It is a tragic end to a tragic story.I have to wonder if Courtney Seale ever had a chance. After her parent’s crime, Courtney dropped out of school but still remained in the area for a while. She dated an acquaintance of mine when I was a senior in high school and I remember seeing her at parties and get-togethers. Nobody ever mentioned the crime or her parents- at least not when she was around. The last I heard of Courtney, she had moved to Colorado. I did a simple internet search and found out what happened to her and it saddened me.
Please follow any of the links or visit Court TV’s Crime Library for more information.
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