Jeffrey Dahmer fan sentenced to 45 years for plot to kidnap, murder and dismember gay men he met on Grindr

A young man obsessed with Jeffrey Dahmer was sentenced Wednesday to 45 years in prison for scheming to kidnap, murder and dismember gay men before eating their remains.

Chance Seneca, 21, learned his fate in a Lafayette, La., courtroom more than two years after he was arrested. He pleaded guilty in September 2022.

In June 2020, Seneca set up a meeting with then-18-year-old Harold White, a gay man whom he’d met on Grindr, a dating app for gay and bisexual men.

Seneca had enticed White with the prospect of a date but instead drove the victim to his father’s house, where he pulled a gun and forced White to put on handcuffs. After that, he tried “several methods to attempt to murder him,” the Justice Department wrote Wednesday in a press release.

During his vicious attack, Seneca slit White’s wrists nearly to the bone, severing the tendons. Even after extensive treatment in the hospital, White never regained feeling in his left hand.

Before he could complete the murder, Seneca lost his nerve and called police on himself.

“The facts of this case are truly shocking, and the defendant’s decision to specifically target gay men is a disturbing reminder of the unique prejudices and dangers facing the LGBTQ+ community today,” said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke.

At Wednesday’s sentencing hearing, prosecutors argued for a hefty sentence. They cited Seneca’s obsession with Dahmer, the infamous serial killer who targeted gay men and dismembered them, the Acadiana Advocate reported.

Investigators said Seneca wrote in a notebook that if he could be any person in history, he would choose to be Dahmer, according to the Advocate. He also named his rabbit after the serial killer and considered getting a tattoo of his face, prosecutors said.