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Boyfriend Charged with Murder of Dismembered Girlfriend Whose Body Parts Were Scattered Outside Their Home and in a Nearby Park

Colin KalmbacherJun 3rd, 2021, 4:18 pm
 

Seth Larson mugshot

Lisa Shuler, 37, died in what authorities in New York referred to as a “suspicious death” sometime in May. On Thursday, her boyfriend Seth Larson, 40, was arrested and charged with second-degree murder.

Shuler’s body was originally discovered late last month after a friend phoned police because they hadn’t seen or heard from her in days. That welfare check led to a grim discovery outside of the victim’s home: Shuler’s body had been dismembered.

Investigators with the New York State Police eventually combed the area in search of the woman’s missing remains.

Almost one week after Shuler was discovered dead outside of the home she shared with Larson, at-first unidentified human remains were spotted by a passerby in a park. Authorities then worked to recover additional human remains from a marshy area of Durand Lake in the Durand Eastman Park of Rochester, N.Y. for two days in a row, according to Spectrum News.

That lake, several outlets noted, is roughly one mile away from the now-former Shuler-Larson home on Culver Road.

On Wednesday, police confirmed that the human remains found in the park belonged to Shuler.

Also on Wednesday, the Irondequoit Police Department revealed that Larson had been pulled over in Maryland by the Cumberland City Police Department for a speeding violation on Tuesday–at least four hours before Shuler’s body was discovered that same day.

The traffic stop ended without incident and then he went on his way.

Larson was immediately pegged as the person of interest in his girlfriend’s death and likely murder suspect because he had essentially disappeared at a highly suspicious time.

“He’s a person of interest because we have not talked to him and he lived at the location,” Irondequoit Police Chief Alan Laird told local NBC affiliate WHEC. “He does need to be brought to justice.”

“[W]e’re asking for help to get it across the country, this information across the country,” the police chief added. “We don’t know exactly where he’s headed. So he could be going anywhere so that’s why we’re asking for that assistance.”

A nationwide search ensued and police shared highly specific details about the wanted man and his blue Nissan Juke:

Irondequoit Police found Larson by Thursday morning but noted that their investigation is ongoing.

“We’re not announcing the investigation is closed,” Laird said during a press conference, “but we’ve been able to close some very important gaps in the investigation.”

He was ultimately apprehended after calling to be taken to a hospital in West Virginia.

“He had called for an ambulance, and his name was provided,” Laird continued. “When the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office obtained his name, he was listed in a national database he was wanted as a person of interest in our case, so they reached out to contact law enforcement.”

Larson was also charged with tampering with physical evidence and concealment of a human corpse in relation to the death of his girlfriend.

Monroe County District Attorney Sandra Doorley also addressed the media and reiterated that the investigation was far from over.

“The ultimate goal is to bring him back here to Monroe County to answer to these charges,” she said. “We can’t put too much out into the public, but we want the public to know that we do feel that we have enough information at this point to charge him with the murder of Lisa Shuler.”

A would-be motive for the alleged murder has yet to be released. The exact cause of death is also not public information at the time.

Shuler and Larson were together for 10 years before she was killed.

Shuler attended the Isabella Graham Hart School of Nursing in Rochester. She was scheduled to graduate this coming fall.

Those who knew Lisa say that they are devastated by her murder.

[image via New York State Police]

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