Man Pleads Not Guilty in Strangulation
A North Hollywood man has pleaded not guilty to murder for allegedly strangling another man and concealing his body in a hollowed-out mattress, authorities said.
Patrick Seaton, 41, was arraigned Thursday on a charge of first-degree murder stemming from the Dec. 20 slaying of Jason Solinger, 37, of Burbank. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for Jan. 3 in Van Nuys Superior Court.
Investigators believe Seaton killed the man because Solinger had failed to repay a debt, Los Angeles Police Det. Vince Bancroft said.
Police say that after strangling Solinger, Seaton asked an acquaintance if he could borrow a pickup truck to dispose of a body.
Police staked out Seaton’s house in the 4700 block of Vantage Avenue on Friday and Saturday and arrested him two blocks away on an unrelated warrant.
While searching the home, detectives found Solinger’s body stuffed into a hollowed-out mattress, LAPD Det. Mike Coffey said.
Solinger’s hands, feet and torso were bound, and his body was wrapped in a solar blanket and plastic, authorities said. The mattress was stitched together with baling wire and bound together with another mattress. The mattresses were hidden behind clothes, boxes and other items in the dining room, investigators said.
“It was one of the most elaborate efforts we’ve seen to conceal a body,” Coffey said.
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