by An eye doctor was arrested in Florida after he reportedly killed his ex-wife as she came home from work as a flight attendant. The couple had just divorced, and as part of the settlement, he had to pay her over $285,000.
It is being said that Richard Edmond Seith, 53, killed his ex-wife Cynthia Lynn Sciarrone outside of her Greenacres home in Palm Beach County. He is being charged with first-degree murder. A probable cause arrest affidavit said that officers were called to the condo on July 15 at 3:20 a.m. for a “man down” call. Sciarrone was shot in the head and found dead outside of her car. She was wearing her Spirit Airlines flight attendant outfit.
Investigators looked at security video from Sciarrone’s 54-year-old car and saw that she got home around 11:43 p.m. the night before. Police said they could hear a gunshot on the tape. There was a man in a baseball cap walking away from the scene.
Police say that Seith was driving his orange Jeep Wrangler near his ex-wife’s house before and after the murder, based on data from his cellphone and license plate readers. A witness also said that in the days before the murder, he saw Seith’s car near the complex. According to the affidavit, Seith also searched the internet, which suggests he was trying to find out when his wife’s flight might be coming at the airport.
Detectives found out that Seith and Sciarrone’s divorce was finalized on May 5. Seith owed his ex-wife about $285,000 to pay off the mortgage on a house she got as part of the deal. In the past few months, Sciarrone had also reported two vandalism cases involving her car, which she thought were caused by Seith.
A person who saw the incident told the police that she used to date Seith and then became friends with Sciarrone after the couple got married in 2018. Sciarrone would tell the witness about the issues in her marriage to Seith. There was a “escalating pattern of emotional and psychologically abusive behavior” between Seith and Sciarrone, according to the witness. It was also said that he made her “swing” with other men, which “she was not comfortable doing, especially with strangers.” Police say Seith told her she would pay for her teeth work if she took part in the swinging.
The reason Sciarrone became a flight attendant was to get more money and be less dependent on her then-husband, but cops say this caused problems. The statement said that Seith couldn’t drink by himself at home while she was training because he would go to a “dark place” when he thought about what she was doing when he wasn’t there.
The witness said that Seith also “proudly” told his wife that he had made a fake Facebook account to spy on an ex-girlfriend and called her new partner a “gold digger.” The ex-girlfriend then got in touch with Sciarrone after Seith did. The document says she told Sciarrone to “run run run” away from Seith.
The witness also told the police that Seith got professional help when he thought about killing his other ex-wife while they were getting divorced.
Investigators talked to Seith on July 16. He said that the last time he saw his ex-wife was in December at a court hearing. The statement said he denied having any part in her death.
Seith was caught by police on Friday.
The defendant runs the Treasure Coast Eye Specialist in Stuart and works as an eye doctor. The business put out a message on its Facebook page earlier on Monday.
“We are walking through something very heavy this week, and we humbly ask for your prayers and grace as our team continues to focus on caring for our patients,” Dr. Carrie Palmer wrote. “With our faith and abundant support from trusted professionals, we are taking every precaution necessary while continuing to operate with the same commitment to excellence and compassion that defines our practice.”
Seith is still in Palm Beach County Jail because he hasn’t paid a fee.
