In the quiet community of Muskegon, Michigan, a delayed Thanksgiving celebration on November 29, 1998, turned into a scene of unimaginable horror. April Boss, a 19-year-old female, was among the five victims of a brutal family massacre. A student at Muskegon Community College with aspirations of becoming a teacher, she had been in a long-term relationship with her boyfriend, 19-year-old Jedidiah Privacky.
That Sunday, she went to his family's home for a holiday dinner, unaware of the violence that had already unfolded within its walls.
The architect of the carnage was Jedidiah's younger brother, 18-year-old Seth Privacky. Earlier that day, following an argument with his father who had threatened to evict him, Seth methodically shot and killed his entire immediate family. He first murdered his brother, Jedidiah, as he watched television. He then ambushed and killed his father, Stephen, and his 78-year-old grandfather, John, when they returned to the house. His mother, Linda, was his next victim, shot after she finished a shower. April arrived at the home shortly after, walking into a gruesome scene. Upon seeing the bodies of Stephen and John, she too was shot and killed by Seth.
Concerned when their daughter did not return home, April's parents drove to the Privacky residence late that night. They discovered a body in the driveway and immediately contacted the police. When authorities arrived, they found the bodies of all five victims scattered throughout the house. Seth had fled the scene, but his best friend, 18-year-old Steven Wallace, was found nearby and arrested. Seth was apprehended the following afternoon after a nearly 13-hour search, hiding in a barn about a mile from his home.
Seth Privacky confessed to the five murders, stating that he had been angry with his family for 'ganging up against him.' He admitted to calling Wallace after the killings to help him move the bodies in an attempt to stage the scene as a robbery gone wrong. Both teenagers were charged with five counts of open murder. Seth Privacky was ultimately sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. His friend, Steven Wallace, was also charged as an accessory. On July 15, 2010, Seth Privacky was shot and killed during a failed escape attempt from the Kinross Correctional Facility in Michigan's Upper Peninsula.
