Strangulation Listed as Cause of Death of Doctor’s Attacker

An autopsy report released Thursday concluded that a Pacific Palisades man died of strangulation during a struggle with a Santa Monica psychiatrist whom the 74-year-old man attacked with acid, ropes and a gun in the doctor’s office.

“It’s being treated as a homicide,” Bob Dambacher, a spokesman for the Los Angeles County coroner’s office said of the death Tuesday of Arthur Waters. Initially, police were uncertain whether Waters died at the hands of psychiatrist George M. Seeds, or if Waters had died of sudden, natural causes.

Santa Monica Police Detective Shane Talbot reiterated Thursday that Seeds, 60, of Marina del Rey will not be arrested or charged with any crime. Seeds’ action will be regarded as self-defense, unless the district attorney’s office recommends otherwise, Talbot said.

“Based on our understanding of physical evidence, statements from Dr. Seeds and other witnesses, it is our belief that Dr. Seeds was defending himself,” Talbot said. “It’s a homicide, but we believe it was a justifiable homicide.”

On Tuesday, Waters had forced his way into Seeds’ office, wrestled the doctor to the floor and threw acid on Seeds after attempting to tie him down. A struggle between the two men ensued, and Seeds called 911 after noticing that Waters had stopped breathing.

Talbot said the case will be turned over to the district attorney’s office for review. He said he expects the district attorney to make a decision about filing charges by the middle of next week.

Seeds’ condition on Thursday was upgraded from fair to good at the burn ward of Torrance Memorial Medical Center, where he is being treated for second- and third-degree burns on his face and body.

According to neighbors, Waters had plotted the attack on Seeds because he believed that the doctor, who had treated Waters’ wife, Mildred, for six months in 1984, was partly to blame for her suicide.

Mildred Waters shot herself in the couple’s Pacific Palisades apartment last April. Her husband blamed her worsening psychosis and muscle twitches on allegedly excessive dosages of drugs that psychiatrists had prescribed her over the years.

He told neighbors that he planned to hunt down and attack up to four different doctors who had treated her to call attention to his allegations.