Reso's Last Days

Arthur and Irene Seale saw themselves sharing a chic, moneyed life-style most couples just read about. But the Seales' frenzied quest for status ended abruptly with charges of kidnapping and extortion in the abduction of Exxon International president Sidney Reso. Now the Seales face a courtroom battle not only against prosecutors but against each other.

One week after their arrest, Mrs. Seale led investigators to Reso's decomposing corpse in a shallow grave in New Jersey's remote Pine Barrens. She had already described how she and her husband grabbed Reso from his home as he set out for work last April and stuffed him into a sweltering storage facility. She also told how Arthur Seale shot Reso in the arm during a struggle. Autopsy reports have not been made public, but officials are saying Reso died only four days into his captivity.

When their federal kidnapping trial begins in September, Irene Seale will be testifying against her husband, who has pleaded innocent to all charges.