TAMPA, Fla. — Steven Lorenzo, who was charged and indicted for the infamous 2003 murders of two men, now says he wants to withdraw his not-guilty pleas for killing both and wants to be sentenced to death.
In a 16-page handwritten letter filed before the Thanksgiving holiday, Lorenzo asked the court for the change because "the end results will prove to be identical" regardless of a trial. "Simply because the defendant has no intention of taking the witness stand under oath at a trial," wrote Lorenzo, referring to himself, to the judge.
He says the case would have "gone unchallenged anyway" and waived his right to an appeal.
For more than a decade, Lorenzo denied killing Jason Galehouse and Michael Wachholtz, who were gay. He, too, called the state of Florida's "death penalty rhetoric...quite childish and ridiculous" in a written letter to the court in December 2021.
Assistant State Attorney Darrell Dirks responded to Lorenzo's latest letter, writing prosecutors will allow the case to proceed but only if he "made these requests knowingly and intelligently." His handwritten letter "properly cites applicable Florida statutes, rules and case history," and he has the right to enter guilty pleas for murder as long as he has "a full understanding of the legal implications of his decisions" the state said.
Lorenzo, 63, appeared in court on Friday, Dec. 2, when another court hearing was scheduled for the following Tuesday for Lorenzo to fill out a proper form for his plea.
He insists on representing himself without an appointed attorney even after being advised by a standby counsel.
"I'm pleased with how I'm handling this," Lorenzo told the judge.
Lorenzo claimed he planned to plead guilty but wanted to fully review his case first. However, it wasn't possible due to delays prompted by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Already, Lorenzo is serving another sentence on drug charges that date back to 2005.
Prosecutors said Lorenzo drugged several men, rendering them unconscious, so he could subdue, torture and sexually violate them.
Galehouse and Wachholtz disappeared in December 2003, and friends of the victims pushed for police to investigate. Eventually, an investigation led to the arrest of Scott Schweickert and Lorenzo, who were convicted in federal court for drugging the men.
However, Schweickert and Lorenzo weren't immediately charged with murder. That changed in 2012 when prosecutors said the pair drugged, tortured and killed the men and placed their body parts in dumpsters.
The lack of conviction for Lorenzo elicited a strong response from family members. Galehouse's mother told 10 Tampa Bay in 2019 she's "been through breast cancer twice now and I always live long enough to see him get the death penalty before I go," Pam Williams said.
"I want the death penalty. Nothing less, no deals, the death penalty."
Tyler Butler, a friend of Galehouse, said WIlliams was unable to attend court due to illness from another cancer diagnosis.
Loved ones expressed skepticism over Lorenzo's alleged change of mind. They want to see the whole process through before getting their hopes up.
"I'm blown away," Butler said. "I mean, 19 years. Why all of a sudden now?"