ENVY: The Kidnapping and Murder of Sidney Reso

Hope Fades

For nearly two months, authorities and the Reso family had clung to the desperate hope that Sidney Reso was still alive. And even in the hours after the arrest, they continued to hope. In fact, days after the arrests were made, authorities were still not certain whether the Seales were part of a larger conspiracy, and whether some other member of the gang might still at large, holding Sidney Reso hostage.

In a June 21 article by United Press International, Murphy, the prosecutor was quoted as saying, "I hope there's a third person and they've got Reso."

Sidney Reso's grave in the South Jersey Pine Barrens

But days later, those hopes were dashed when Irene Seale, apparently hoping to cut a deal with prosecutors, led authorities to the shallow grave in the woods of South Jersey where Reso's body had been dumped. She would later claim that she had hoped to bring the suffering Reso family some "closure," as if learning that their husband and father had been left to die in a stifling coffin while an open bullet wound oozed in his arm might somehow be considered comforting.

The Seales were ordered without bail and were charged with murder, conspiracy and extortion.

Later, Irene Seale's cooperation would pay off. When it came time for be sentenced for her role in the crime, she was given 20 years, roughly one ninth of the sentenced received by her husband, and that, in large part was the result of her decision to cooperate early — if two months into the search for Sidney Reso can be considered early. She also agreed to testify against her husband.