Bio 

Steven Lorenzo was born on January 22, 1959, in the Tampa, Florida area. He later lived in the Seminole Heights area of Tampa, where investigators said he brought victims to his home. Before the murder case, Lorenzo became known to investigators through reports from men who said they had been drugged and sexually assaulted after meeting him. Several victims testified that they met Lorenzo in Tampa gay bars, accepted drinks, lost consciousness, and later woke up naked, restrained, injured, or in pain. Prosecutors said Lorenzo used GHB, commonly known as a date-rape drug, to incapacitate the men.

Federal prosecutors charged Lorenzo in connection with the drugging and sexual assault of multiple men. In November 2005, a jury found him guilty on all counts. In January 2006, U.S. District Judge Richard A. Lazzara sentenced him to the maximum 200 years in prison. The federal case included nine victims, two of whom, Jason Galehouse and Michael Wachholtz, were later identified as murder victims.

Lorenzo was connected to Scott Paul Schweickert, a man from Chicago whom he met online. Prosecutors said the two men shared violent sexual fantasies involving torture and murder. Schweickert later confessed and provided details about the killings of Galehouse and Wachholtz. His statements helped investigators build the later murder case against Lorenzo.

After years of legal proceedings, Lorenzo was returned to Florida for the state murder case. In December 2022, he pleaded guilty to two counts of first-degree murder. In February 2023, he was sentenced to death for both murders.

Murder Story

The murders of Jason Galehouse and Michael Wachholtz happened in Tampa, Florida, in December 2003. Both men were 26 years old and were connected to Tampa’s gay community. Prosecutors later described the crimes as part of a pattern in which Lorenzo drugged, sexually assaulted, and tortured men he met through bars or personal contacts.

The first known murder was Jason Galehouse. According to Scott Schweickert’s later confession, Galehouse was with Lorenzo and Schweickert on or around December 19, 2003. He was drugged and sexually assaulted. After he was killed, Lorenzo and Schweickert dismembered his body, placed the remains in garbage bags, and discarded the bags in trash locations around Tampa. Galehouse’s full body was never recovered in one piece, but investigators found DNA evidence linking him to Lorenzo’s garage.

The second murder was Michael Wachholtz, who was killed the following night, around December 20, 2003. Prosecutors said Lorenzo and Schweickert drugged, raped, and killed him. Wachholtz’s body was wrapped in a bed sheet and left in his Jeep. The vehicle was later discovered, and the case became tied to Lorenzo after investigators found evidence inside his home and on his computer.

Schweickert’s confession became a key part of the investigation. He told federal agents that he and Lorenzo had killed both men. Investigators then found a large collection of images on Lorenzo’s computer, including photographs of Wachholtz’s dead body taken inside Lorenzo’s house. They also found Galehouse’s DNA in a pool of blood beneath the floor of Lorenzo’s garage.

Before the state murder case moved forward, Lorenzo was tried in federal court for drugging and sexually assaulting multiple men. On November 10, 2005, he was convicted on all counts connected to the drugging, rape, and torture of nine men. On January 27, 2006, he was sentenced to 200 years in prison.

For years, the murder case remained separate from the federal case. Schweickert later pleaded guilty to two counts of first-degree murder and received life sentences. Lorenzo continued fighting the state charges for years, at times representing himself. In December 2022, he changed his plea to guilty for the murders of Galehouse and Wachholtz.

A non-jury penalty phase followed. On February 24, 2023, Hillsborough Circuit Judge Christopher Sabella sentenced Steven Lorenzo to death for both murders. The judge stated that the sentence was based on the crimes and not simply on Lorenzo’s own request for death.

The Florida Supreme Court affirmed Lorenzo’s convictions and death sentences on June 19, 2025. Later that year, Lorenzo moved to waive further appeals. In December 2025, a Tampa judge found him competent to give up his remaining legal challenges. As of 2026, his current status is imprisoned on Florida death row and awaiting execution, with no verified execution date found.