No suspects sought in Blaine couple’s deaths, guns taken from their home that day

Law enforcement says it is pursuing no suspects in connection with either the shooting deaths of two people in the couple’s vehicle last week in Blaine or the taking of dozens of guns from their home during an apparent ransacking.

The bodies of Sarah Fay Gordon, 41, and longtime private security provider Daniel Joseph Seman, 66, were found by police around noon on March 27 in an SUV parked in an area of retail outlets in the 10700 block of Town Square Drive NE.

Sheriff’s Office spokeswoman Tierney Peters repeated on Tuesday what she said in her statement a day after the bodies were located: “We are not looking for suspects related to the death investigation and there is no known threat to the public.”

Peters’ words echo what law enforcement routinely says in cases of suspected murder-suicide. As of Tuesday afternoon, the Midwest Medical Examiner’s Office has yet to release the cause and manner behind the deaths of Gordon or Seman.

As for the ransacking of the couple’s home and the guns being removed, Blaine Police Capt. Mark Boerboom said Tuesday his department initially treated the case as a burglary but that it now has ended its investigation into what he called “a civil issue.”

Boerboom would not specify what he meant by that characterization other than to say, “Maybe someone who had items there went to retrieve them.”

The captain also declined to say whether the deaths and the entry into the couple’s Blaine home were connected. However, later Tuesday, Peters issued a statement that read, “This civil matter has also been determined to be unrelated to the deaths of Ms. Gordon and Mr. Seman.”

Seman’s online résumé notes that he worked for the U.S. Marshals Service before owning one of the state’s largest private security firms, Avalon Fortress.

Before it filed for bankruptcy in 2009 and officially went out of business in 2014 after nearly 20 years, the business employed hundreds and over the years provided security for major events ranging from Minnesota Vikings games to the 2008 Republican National Convention in St. Paul and the 2009 funeral for former Minnesota Twins owner Carl Pohlad at the Basilica of St. Mary.

Gordon ran her own business as a professional organizer and home stager. She counted individuals, small businesses and corporations among her clients.

While the law enforcement spokespeople have chosen to shed little light on these two incidents, a search warrant affidavit filed by the Sheriff’s Office last week offered some insight into both events. Neither Peters nor Boerboom discounted anything in the affidavit, which cleared the way for law enforcement to collect interior surveillance cameras, DNA, fingerprints, photos and gun paperwork from the home:

Blaine officers arrived at the vehicle, spotted Gordon and Seman dead inside, and saw that “early indications were that this was a likely murder-suicide, however the investigation is still in its early stages.”

The officers found a gun in the SUV that held five discharged shell casings. Detectives did not believe that all five bullets were fired from inside the vehicle.

Two detectives went to the couple’s home in the 11800 block of Flanders Circle NE and “found things to be in order, the home was very clean, and no one was located in the home.”

Detectives spoke with a friend of the couple, who said she would be letting the dogs out at the home and caring for them after Gordon and Seman’s death.

Nearly eight hours after detectives visited the home, she returned to let the dogs out and found the residence had been ransacked. Officers arrived and spotted fresh footprints in the snow that led to a rear basement window, which had been broken out, allowing for entry.

Officers went inside and saw a gun room door with a biometric lock that had been kicked in. “About 50 guns had been stolen, [and] gun cases were strewn about the basement.”

Seman was known as an avid gun collector and had many valuable firearms. Also believed taken from the home were high-end bags, purses and luggage.