Life in Jail Ordered for ’83 Hawthorne Slaying
More than a decade after the crime, a man who set up the murder of his mother-in-law in Hawthorne has been sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Michael Seawright, 40, was convicted last August of hiring two brothers to kill Catherine Stroup, 45, so Seawright could inherit the Twentynine Palms water company they co-owned with Stroup’s husband, James. The brothers, Peter and Paul Leach, entered Stroup’s apartment in April, 1983, and shot her in the chest, stomach and head.
James Stroup was later charged with the murder of his wife but was acquitted in a jury trial. Police then linked the Leach brothers to the crime. Both were convicted in the case and given life sentences. Peter Leach testified that Seawright hired him to kill both Catherine and James Stroup, but the husband escaped death because he wasn’t at home when the attack occurred.
Seawright’s first trial ended in a mistrial when the jury could not agree on a verdict. Seawright has maintained his innocence throughout both trials and has filed a notice of appeal in the case.
“It’s finally over,” Deputy District Atty. Michael Duarte said after the sentencing in Pomona Superior Court last Thursday.
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