Michigan’s Adventure’s Dark Past: The Privacky Quintuple Murder

A few months ago, I wrote an article about a rarely used empty plot of land across the street from Michigan's Adventure that is used as overflowing parking. In the article, I speculated about what could be a better use for the land rather than just for overflow parking.

The story resonated with one reader, but not how I expected it to. I received a DM on Instagram informing me that the overflow parking had a very dark past: the murders of five people in 1998.

READ MORE: Michigan's Adventure's Forgotten Parking Lot 

A Curious DM

Monday morning, I opened my DMs to a message from a listener who had stumbled upon my article. While he liked the ideas I presented in the article, he informed me that he thinks the plot should stay empty out of respect for the victims of Seth Privacky who, on November 29, 1998, murdered his parents, grandfather, brother, and his brother's girlfriend. 

The home where the victims were killed was on the land before Michigan's Adventure bought the land.

The Privacky Murders

As a warning: this story is pretty graphic, so reader discretion is advised. 

I encourage everyone to read the full chilling story of Seth Privacky here, but here is a summarized version.

The Privacky family was celebrating a late Thanksgiving like any family that week when 18-year-old Seth Privacky, the youngest of the Privacky family, shot and killed everyone in the home and fled the scene. Their bodies weren't discovered for 12 hours.

Police arrived at the scene and encountered Seth's best friend Steven Wallace, who said Seth contacted him to dispose of the murder weapon and help cover up the murders. He was brought in for further questioning.

The next day, a girl picked up a hitchhiker in the rain only to discover it was Seth. She brought him to a friend's house and contacted police, where he was later arrested.

In Seth's confession, he claimed that he committed the killings in a fit of rage after being told he needed to move out. Steven Wallace was charged for his role in the removal of the murder weapon and attempting to move the bodies but was later acquitted.

A Failed Escape

After pleading guilty to five counts of first-degree murder, he was given a life sentence without the possibility of parole. He served 11 1/2 years before he and two other convicted murderers attempted to escape prison. It was during this attempt that Privacky was shot and killed.

Present Day

The listener tells me that after many years of the home sitting vacant, Michigan's Adventure eventually bought the house and the surrounding land, demolishing the house and clearing the trees for the overflow parking lot it is now.

Should the land be left vacant out of respect for the victims, as the listener suggests?