Drugging Case Ends With 2 Convictions

By ELAINE SILVESTRINI The Tampa Tribune

Published: Jan 20, 2007

TAMPA - A federal jury on Friday night convicted Scott Schweickert of two federal charges in the drugging, torture and killing of two men in a gruesome case of sadomasochistic sex and violence.

Schweickert, who faces up to 40 years in prison, was found guilty of conspiring with Steven Lorenzo and of administering the drug GHB to Michael Wachholtz with the intent to commit a crime of violence. The jury, which deliberated six hours, acquitted him of administering the drug to another victim, Jason Galehouse.

Both victims disappeared on successive nights in December 2003. Investigators say Schweickert and Lorenzo, kindred spirits in a sadomasochistic subculture, teamed up to lure the men to Lorenzo's Seminole Heights house, where they were drugged, tortured and killed.

Lorenzo, who was convicted in 2005 of similar federal charges, as well as charges he drugged seven other men, is serving 200 years in federal prison.

Wachholtz's mother, Ruth, flew to Tampa from her Missouri farm on Friday but had to catch a flight before the verdict was reached. Reached by telephone on an airplane, she said she was "very glad" that the jury convicted Schweickert on two charges.

But with both men's federal trials now over, other friends and supporters of the victims said the time has come for state prosecutors to bring murder charges.

Melissa Hartford, a friend of Wachholtz, said she was "relieved and satisfied" that Schweickert was convicted. "Obviously I am pleased," she said. "But to be honest, I'm a little frustrated with the time it's taking them to charge for murder. … It's putting family and friends through a lot. It seems like its every year around the holidays that we have to go through this again and again. … Let's charge them with what they really did. Let's charge them with murder so we don't have to go through this year after year."

Reached after the verdict, State Attorney Mark Ober said, "These cases, Lorenzo and Schweickert, are very active investigations in my office." Ober said he couldn't comment further because the investigations are pending.

'Proceed With The State Charges'

Brian Winfield, spokesman for Equality Florida, a gay advocacy organization, said Schweickert's conviction should mark "a turning point in the history of this very sad episode in the history of Tampa Bay. ... Mark Ober has consistently asked the gay and lesbian community to be patient and to trust in his office that they will see justice to the full extent of the law in this case. And the gay and lesbian community has respected that request. … The federal charges are behind us. It's time to proceed with the state charges."

Wachholtz's roommate, Frederick Van Den Abbeel, was happy with the verdict but impatient about the next step. "My reaction is thank God the justice mill, although slow, is finally running its course and that people who did terrible things are paying the price for those dastardly deeds," he said. "My hope is, come on, the state of Florida, murder has been happening here. Let's charge these people with murder."

Assistant U.S. Attorney Anthony Porcelli said he was "very pleased with the verdicts. Obviously we hoped for guilty as to all counts. However, we respect the jury's finding and the judicial process."

One of the jurors, Arcangel Ramirez, said he was impressed with the prosecution team and how the case was put together.

Investigators and prosecutors "did a good job," he said. "It was a good presentation, very detailed."

After the verdict, defense attorney Pedro Amador Jr. said, "Obviously we're happy that the jury found him not guilty of one count and disappointed that the jury found him guilty of the other two counts. … and we'll move forward from here."

The Nature Of The Evidence

The prosecution's case in the federal drug trial was entirely circumstantial.

For example, there are dozens of printouts of online computer conversations between Lorenzo and Schweickert in which they discussed drugging, torturing and killing unsuspecting men. But the two did not specifically mention GHB in their online conversations with each other.

However, Lorenzo talked about the drug in online chats with other men. And Drug Enforcement Administration Agent Scott A. Allbrecht spoke to Schweickert online under the guise of being part of the subculture. In those conversations, Schweickert coached Albrecht about using GHB as the "preferred method" of subduing victims.

The juror Ramirez, 54, who drives a truck for the Hernando County Public Works Department, said the online chats were important evidence. "I would say that the chats and e-mails they were having before the fact convinced me that they were plotting to do something, and after the fact as well," Ramirez said. "It definitely would have been harder without them to convict."

There Were Forensic Problems

Because Galehouse's body was never found, authorities had no way of documenting whether GHB was in his system. By the time Wachholtz's body was discovered, more than two weeks after he vanished, his remains were so decomposed, investigators could not determine whether the GHB found in his system was from ingestion or a naturally occurring result of decay.

Schweickert said during an interrogation that he was present when Lorenzo killed both men and that he helped dispose of the bodies, but he denied participating in the slayings. He also denied any knowledge of whether Galehouse was drugged and would only speculate that Wachholtz must have been drugged by Lorenzo.

Ramirez said the case has taught him something. "There is stuff out there; anyone can slip some of the stuff in your drink, and you never know what can happen."

News Channel 8 reporter Rod Carter and Tribune editor Howard Altman contributed to this report. Reporter Elaine Silvestrini can be reached at esilvestrini@tampatrib.com or (813) 259-7837.