Seth Larson (New York State Police)
A 41-year-old man in upstate New York will likely spend the rest of his life behind bars for killing and dismembering his girlfriend, whose remains were scattered in the backyard of the couple’s home nearly two years ago.
A state supreme court justice on Thursday handed down the maximum sentence of 25 years to life in prison to Seth Larson for the 2021 slaying of 37-year-old Lisa Shuler, authorities confirmed to Law&Crime.
Following a two-week trial, a jury found Larson guilty in January of one count each of second-degree murder, tampering with physical evidence, and concealment of a human corpse.
Prosecutors in the Monroe County District Attorney’s Office said that Shuler’s body was discovered on May 31, 2021, after one of her friends called the Irondequoit Police Department for a welfare check. She hadn’t seen or heard from her in several days.
Authorities discovered Shuler’s dismembered body in the yard, covered by a fly-infested tarp. Someone walking about a mile from Shuler’s home found other body parts a week later.
Authorities quickly identified Larson as a person of interest in Shuler’s death but could not find him for several days. A nationwide search ensued, and police shared details about the wanted man and his vehicle, a blue Nissan Juke.
Larson’s time on the run ended on June 3, 2021, in West Virginia, when he called a hospital for an ambulance and gave authorities his name. Officials ran the name through a national database, found out he was wanted in the murder, and he was arrested.
Before being sentenced, Larson addressed the court, denying he killed Shuler and suggesting her killer remains free.
The statement did not go over well with the judge or prosecutors, Rochester CBS affiliate WROC-TV reported.
“Everything he said just cemented the fact that assured me that the maximum sentence was the only one appropriate,” First Assistant District Attorney Perry Duckles said. “To come in here and face the evidence that was presented and say somebody else did it, that the perpetrator was still out there, that he was somehow treated unfairly by the system. If I could use profanity right now, I would because it was absolute nonsense. What other word is there for what he did to a human being, especially somebody he apparently loved, lived with, spent his life with? It’s just absolutely horrible.”
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