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October 28, 2005
DNA, photos link man to sex offenses
Tampa, Florida -- A man on trial in federal court had photos on his computer of one of the men he drugged, raped and killed, and DNA from another victim was found in his house, prosecutors said.
Opening statements began Wednesday in the trial of Steven Lorenzo, 46. He is charged with drugging seven young men, rendering them unconscious, so he could subdue, torture and sexually violate them.
While Lorenzo has not been charged with murder, prosecutor Anthony Porcelli told the jury that he will present evidence implicating Lorenzo and Scott Schweickert of Chicago in the December 2003 murders of Jason Galehouse, 26, of Sarasota, and Michael Wachholtz, 26, of Tampa.
Schweickert will face a federal trial later, and state officials say they are preparing a murder case against the men.
Federal prosecutors will present photographs that had been deleted and later recovered from Lorenzo's computer of Wachholtz's dead body positioned throughout Lorenzo's bungalow, Porcelli said.
Investigators found Galehouse's DNA in a gas mask seized from Lorenzo's home and in blood found in Lorenzo's garage, Porcelli said.
Galehouse was killed and dismembered by Schweickert and Lorenzo on Dec. 19, 2003, after the three engaged in sex, an indictment said. Schweickert told federal agents he and Lorenzo cut up the body, put the pieces in garbage bags and scattered them in trash bins throughout the city.
The next night, Lorenzo and Schweickert allegedly drugged, raped, killed and wrapped Wachholtz in a bed sheet and left him in his Jeep. The vehicle was discovered Jan. 6, 2004.
Defense attorney Donald Harrison deferred his opening statement until after the prosecution rests.
Posted by Nealus at October 28, 2005 07:16 AM
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