Rhode Island man convicted in previous homicide charged in murder of 63-year-old Carl Seebeck

Attorney General Peter Neronha and Pawtucket Police Chief Tina Goncalves announced Friday that a Pawtucket man has been charged in a seventeen-year-old cold case, stemming from the murder of 63-year-old Carl Seebeck.

On Friday, the Providence County Grand Jury returned an indictment charging 42-year-old James Grilli with Seebeck’s murder.

It is alleged that on August 29, 2008, Grilli shot and killed Seebeck during an attempted robbery. At 4:00 a.m., Seebeck was walking on Broadway in Pawtucket on his way to the bus stop to go to work when he was shot and killed. Witnesses heard loud music, a car accelerating, and observed a suspect fleeing the area.

On January 23, 2023, Grilli pled nolo contendere in Providence County Superior Court to the second-degree murder of his girlfriend, 40-year-old Erika Belcourt, in Woonsocket. He is currently serving a life sentence, plus a consecutive 5-year sentence, for murder and other charges related to that incident.

Grilli is scheduled for arraignment on Wednesday.

Assistant Attorney General Scott Erickson and Special Assistant Attorney General Alison Bittl of the Office of the Attorney General and Detectives Craig Letourneau, Michael Dolan, and Chip Devine (retired) of the Pawtucket Police Department led the investigation and are leading the prosecution of the case.