Steven Lorenzo appears in court ahead of sentencing
TAMPA, Fla. - It’s been 18 years since Steven Lorenzo and his co-conspirator Scott Schweickert terrorized Tampa’s gay community. Men were drugged, tortured, and used as sex slaves – and two men were murdered, Jason Galehouse and Michael Waccholtz.
This Friday Lorenzo will be sentenced for his crimes.
On Monday, Lorenzo had one last chance to address the court. Lorenzo had said in a hearing earlier this month, he planned to prepare a written statement to read to the court, but this morning, he changed his mind.
Tampa judge Christopher Sabella now has a weighty decision to make on Lorenzo's fate: Life in prison or the death penalty. On Monday, Sabella asked Lorenzo if he still wanted a death sentence.
"You have indicated that you want the death penalty. Is that still your position?" asked Sabella.
"Yes, that sure is," replied Lorenzo. And with that, Judge Sabella told the lawyers he will prepare his order and hand it down by the end of the week.
Steven Lorenzo confessed to killing Jason Galehouse and Michael Waccholtz.
In December of 2003, Lorenzo and Schweickert hunted for gay men to use them as sex slaves. Both Galehouse and Waccholtz were drugged and killed. Waccholtz's body was left in the trunk of his car parked outside an apartment complex in Tampa. Galehouse's body was dismembered and has never been recovered.
Schweickert pleaded guilty in 2016 and agreed to testify against Lorenzo. Lorenzo decided to plead guilty last year.
In previous testimony, Schweickert explained how the two drove around town trying to get rid of the remains. When Lorenzo stopped at a church dumpster, Schweickert objected.
"I said I'm not dropping a body part in a church's dumpster, I'm not doing that," Schwickert recalled.
Jason Galehouse’s mother Pam Williams is still haunted by that horrifying detail and didn't hold back her disdain for Lorenzo during a penalty hearing earlier this month.
"You pulled away and you laughed about it! Laughed! What the hell is wrong with you?" shouted Williams.
After the hearing wrapped up Monday, Lorenzo will return Friday to learn his fate.
Tyler Butler, a close friend of Jason Galehouse will be there. Outside the courthouse Monday, he told reporters he now has mixed emotions about the death penalty. He said inmates appear to get better treatment on death row. "They get their own cell, three nice meals a day, internet," Butler said.
But Butler also wants to respect the wishes of Jason's mother, who has terminal cancer, and is asking that Lorenzo be put to death.
"I want him to suffer as much as my friend did and the other men," expressed Butler.