By Jessica Mathews / news@whmi.com


A Stockbridge man charged with assaulting two men with a baseball bat last year has been found not guilty by a local jury.

Following a four-day trial, concluding arguments were made Monday in the case against 42-year-old Wayne Seely. Deliberations continued today and the jury returned a verdict finding him not guilty on all counts. He was charged with two counts each of Assault with Intent to Murder, Assault with Intent to do Great Bodily Harm Less Than Murder and assault with a dangerous weapon.

The charges stemmed from an incident in August of 2020 in Putnam Township in which he’s accused of attacking two 40-year-old acquaintances with a baseball bat. Previous testimony from the victims in the case indicated that they were sitting on a porch drinking beer following a boat ride, when Seely attacked them without warning. The victims again testified that the attack came as a surprise and was unexpected. Seely testified that the parties had a disagreement about business and that it became physical.

Seely has been jailed since his arrest shortly after the attack, in which both victims were hospitalized with serious injuries, with one of them ultimately losing an eye. If convicted, Seely had faced up to life behind bars.

Meanwhile, a civil case filed against Seely by one of the victims is still pending. Steven Nowak filed suit last year seeking damages in excess of $25,000 against Seely for the physical and emotional injuries he suffered as a result of the attack, including the loss of his eye, a broken jaw and facial fractures that required facial reconstruction surgery.