Man sentenced to death after torturing and murdering gay men

A Florida man who admitted to torturing and murdering two gay men in 2003 has been sentenced to death.

63-year-old Steven Lorenzo pleaded for judge Christopher Sabella to give him the death sentence after pleading guilty to two counts of murder.

“That is the punishment you deserve for these horrific crimes,” Sabella responded in a sentencing hearing after handing him the death sentence.

Lorenzo was convicted of luring Jason Galehouse and Michael Wachholtz, both 26, to his home in Tampa where he tortured and killed them.

He committed the crimes alongside Scott Schweickert, who pleaded guilty to two counts of first-degree murder in 2016.

After initially pleading not guilty, Lorenzo filed a 147-page letter in November 2022 requesting the death penalty for his crimes due to the “comforts they get on death row.”

“I don’t really care, it doesn’t bother me, because the defence wants the death penalty,” he wrote.

“The defence is saying, ‘Yes, give me the death penalty, that is absolutely great.'”

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