Seitz pleads guilty to willful injury in stabbing case
Aug. 12—CLINTON — A Clinton man has pleaded guilty to two counts of willful injury causing serious injury in connection with the stabbings of two men last August.
Jacob Seitz, who also was charged with two counts of attempted murder that are expected to be dropped at sentencing under the plea agreement, was set to be tried in Clinton County District Court earlier this month in connection with the Aug. 6, 2021 stabbings in the 200 block of Fourth Avenue North. District Court Judge Joel Barrows accepted the plea.
Plea agreement documents filed July 15 state Seitz was going to plead guilty Thursday to both counts of willful injury causing serious injury, Class C felonies that carry a prison term of up to 10 years each. Under the plea agreement, both counts of attempted murder, which carry prison terms of up to 25 years each, would be dropped. Prosecutors also agreed they would not seek the "with dangerous weapon" sentencing enhancement that would carry a minimum five-year sentence, the plea agreement states.
Seitz will be sentenced at 9 a.m. Oct. 13 at the Clinton County Courthouse. He will continue to be held in the Clinton County Jail without bond pending sentencing, according to court documents.
The charges stem from assaults Aug. 6, 2021 in the 200 block of Fourth Avenue North in Clinton. Police were dispatched there at 7:10 that morning, when an officer found a man with apparent serious stab wounds in front of a residence a couple houses away from where he lived and where the assault took place.
Police went inside the home and found another injured man, who was a roommate of the man found stabbed in the yard. That man was found on the couch and had severe stab wounds. Officers also noted a large amount of blood throughout the residence, court records state.
The victim found inside the home was taken to MercyOne in Clinton and told officers Seitz had stabbed him, court records state.
The stabbed man found outside told police he was inside the residence getting ready for work when he heard his roommate yelling. The door was locked, but he could hear a disturbance inside the bedroom, he said.
A man with a beard exited the room and began stabbing him, the man said. He fought the assailant and ran outside and yelled for help, court documents say.
At 7:30 a.m., 20 minutes after the initial call about an assault, Clinton County Communications received a call from a woman residing in the 200 block of Third Avenue North. The woman said Seitz came into her house through the basement. She said the man was running down Third Avenue North between houses. She did not know him personally, she said.
The woman said Seitz was wearing a white shirt and had a backpack. He left shoes, a backpack and some clothing in a different area of the 200 block of Third Avenue North, she said.
Officers found Seitz at 8:30 a.m. hiding in an overgrown area near a residence in the 300 block of Third Avenue North. Seitz was wearing a white shirt and dark shorts but no shoes. Officers found dried blood on Seitz's hands, the right side of his head and his legs, the affidavit says.
