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November 10, 2005
Man Found Guilty Of Drugging Young Men For Sex, Torture
TAMPA, Fla. -- A Tampa man was found guilty Thursday in federal court of nine counts of drugging young men to rape and torture them.
Two of the victims of Steven Lorenzo ended up dead, and he is likely to face murder charges in state court later.
The jury deliberated about three hours over two days before finding Lorenzo, 46, guilty of slipping the date rape drug, GHB, into the drinks of all nine victims and then sexually torturing them at his home.
Michael Wachholtz and Jason Galehouse, both 26, were killed. The other seven victims all testified about meeting Lorenzo at bars and either losing track of their drinks or having Lorenzo serve them drinks before they lost consciousness.
The men woke up naked and in pain, some remembering bondage or forced sex, and others having almost no memory of what happened.
Lorenzo's attorney argued that the sex acts were consensual.
Prosecutors said Lorenzo teamed up with Scott Schweickert, a Chicago man he met online, to fulfill their ultimate fantasy by killing Wachholtz and Galehouse.
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 and killed Wachholtz, wrapping him a bed sheet and leaving him in his Jeep, according to the indictment. The vehicle was discovered Jan. 6, 2004.
Investigators found on Lorenzo's computer hundreds of thousands of images, including photographs of Wachholtz's dead body taken at Lorenzo's house hours after he was last seen.
Galehouse's DNA was found in a large pool of blood in the dirt beneath the cobblestone floor of Lorenzo's garage.
Prosecutor Anthony Porcelli said he will seek the maximum sentence of 200 years in prison for Lorenzo on the federal convictions. He will be sentenced Jan. 27.
Schweickert will face a federal trial later.
http://www.wftv.com/news/5298893/detail.html
Posted by Nealus at November 10, 2005 08:46 PM
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