Jailed Construction Worker a Suspect in Lawyer’s Slaying

A Laguna Hills construction worker who was arrested Thanksgiving Day on an unrelated robbery charge is a suspect in the shooting death of a Santa Ana attorney whose body was found later that day alongside a dirt road in Riverside County, authorities said Tuesday.

Edward Dean Bridges, 36, was being held in the Orange County Jail in lieu of $100,000 bail in connection with a Nov. 21 armed robbery at a Huntington Beach residence, according to Sgt. Dan Borden of the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department.

Borden said officials expect to file charges of murder and other offenses against Bridges later this week in connection with the death of William Morrison Seiler, 50, of Lemon Heights, who disappeared Nov. 23 while driving from a business appointment in Tustin.

“The motive is believed to be robbery, but there is no indication at this time that the victim and the suspect knew each other,” Borden said. “We have no idea how they crossed paths. It could have involved a kidnaping, a traffic collision or somebody was stopped and (Seiler) tried to help. We just don’t know.”

Seiler’s body was found before noon Thursday, and his red 1986 Chevrolet Corvette, unlocked with the keys inside, was found that afternoon in Orange. Authorities said the car had been involved in a minor traffic collision.

According to Borden, “significant items of evidence” were found in Seiler’s car that connected Bridges to the case. He refused to comment further on the items but said they are “physical evidence that is very crucial to the case.”

Borden said detectives are also investigating reports that Bridges was seen in Orange County on the afternoon of Nov. 23 driving a car matching the description of Seiler’s Corvette. Authorities do not believe Seiler was in the car at that time, Borden said.

A group of off-road motorcyclists found Seiler’s body along a dirt road near the dam at Lake Matthews, east of Corona. Seiler’s wallet, containing “more than $100,” was missing, Borden said.

Bridges has refused to talk to investigators, Borden said. Investigators believe that Seiler was taken to Riverside County in his car, but they do not know why he was killed there, he said.

Seiler “was dead about 24 hours before he was found. He was brought to that location alive, and the murder took place where we found the body; there is evidence to indicate that. We don’t believe he was killed in Orange County and then brought there,” Borden said.

Bridges was arrested at about 9 a.m. Thursday after campus security officers at Chapman College in Orange caught him trying to crawl through the door of the psychology building, Borden said. Bridges, who was drunk, led the officers on a brief foot chase before he was caught nearby, he said.

Bridges was turned over to police in Orange, who ran a records check and discovered a warrant for his arrest in an armed robbery case from Huntington Beach, Borden said.

According to Huntington Beach police, residents of a house in the 17300 block of Keelson Lane were robbed at gunpoint of $500 on Nov. 21. Police said they believe Bridges was the robber and the same man who had burglarized the house about 3 weeks earlier, taking a guitar and a .44-caliber handgun.

Children Find Handgun

Such a handgun was discovered by children at a Garden Grove elementary school Friday and turned over to police. Borden said Seiler had been shot in the head twice with a .44-caliber handgun, and tests were being conducted to determine whether the gun found in Garden Grove was the one used in the slaying.

Authorities said Seiler apparently was killed shortly after he disappeared around 1 p.m. Wednesday.