November 9, 2023 • 40 mins
Steven Lorenzo's friend and accomplice is identified as Scott Schweickert. And the pair's history is revealed through AOL instant messages and a mutual friend. Tampa PD investigate multiple assaults within the Tampa gay community, leading to an arrest and a second search warrant. And the relationship between Steven and Scott gets complicated.
This episode was written, researched, edited, and produced by Josh Hallmark
With additional research by: Kaz
Audio editing by Darron Wood (The Defense Diaries podcast)
This is a Studio BOTH/AND production: bothand.fyi
For an ad-free experience: patreon.com/studiobothand
Resources include:
• The Charlie Project
• NAMUS
• The Tampa Bay Times: Which one is the real Scott?
• Newspapers.com
• CNN.com
• Equity Florida Action, Inc
Music by: Yehezkel Rez, Circles, The Bows, Spiriturn, and Colour Book
Featured music by: Owen Pallett
This episode was written, researched, edited, and produced by Josh Hallmark
With additional research by: Kaz
Audio editing by Darron Wood (The Defense Diaries podcast)
This is a Studio BOTH/AND production: bothand.fyi
For an ad-free experience: patreon.com/studiobothand
Resources include:
• The Charlie Project
• NAMUS
• The Tampa Bay Times: Which one is the real Scott?
• Newspapers.com
• CNN.com
• Equity Florida Action, Inc
Music by: Yehezkel Rez, Circles, The Bows, Spiriturn, and Colour Book
Featured music by: Owen Pallett
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:09):
This is a studio both and production. Scott Paul Schweikert was born in Peru,
Illinois, on August tenth of nineteensixty five. The Schweikerts were a
(00:30):
prominent and well connected family in thearea, with thirteen children. According to
the Tampa Bay Times, Scott wasa quiet and polite boy who attended the
local Catholic church and graduated high schoolwith a three point sixty four GPA.
He went on to earn two bachelor'sdegrees from Illinois State University. His family
(00:52):
and community had high hopes for him. Of course, by now we all
know what happened, and during Scott'stime at ISU an assault and attempted rape
on a fellow student, for whichScott merely served six months in jail.
Halfway through that jail time, hisparents wrote to the judge requesting that Scott
(01:15):
be let out early so he couldattend their fiftieth anniversary party. Make of
that what you will. Five anda half years later, after bouncing around
from courthouse to courthouse and state tostate, Scott met Steven Lorenzo and in
(01:36):
short order found himself in Orlando,Florida. In October of twenty three,
where are you living, how longhad you lived and what was the purpose
for your moving to Okay? Andwere you in the process of taking that
(02:02):
course in personal training in October oftwo thousand and three? Are you familiar
with an online application called America Onlineand were you familiar with America Online in
October of two thousand and three priorto two thousand and three? Had you
(02:25):
utilize America Online to conduct instant missingchats with individuals? Did you have a
screen name? What was your streamingprior to October of two thousand and three?
(02:47):
Did you know the defendant Cingul Lorento. Do you recall how you were
acquainted with or how you were introducedto Stephen Lawrenson actual tell us about the
place I was talking with another dominantfrom pennsil By Leah everybody that's the name,
(03:10):
the standards that part shrew stuff thatand he had to pay contact with
Lorenz prior to my making contact withthem expand and he noticed that I would
be randel Uh, Mister Lorandi wasin Tampa and you got we got sad
(03:35):
interest and we be one to makeconoment all right? Do you use the
terminal? I want to get clarifiedhere you used used the term another dominant.
Explain to us what you mean byit. The comments you got goverment,
he has the business subvisions, submissionsare looking to submit it to somebody,
(04:00):
to have somebody dominating as the dominant. We learned the dominating pieces.
So you and the gay community wereconsider yourself as a dominant. Yes,
and Limited Expander was aware that youwere a domind Yes. Uh, obviously
(04:23):
Limited Expander decided that it was anit was maybe good for you to meet
Stephen Lorenzo. Did you did youcome to learn based upon your communications with
Stephen Lorenzo or Limited Expander is whyit was that the Limited Expander decided that
(04:44):
it was it was important for youto meet Stephen Lorenzo. Well, he
said that we had similar interests.You've been talking with n I guess for
a while and unforture at all,and we act a couple of times and
we discussed what all we got into, and you thought that we were into
(05:05):
alized. Okay, so then tellus about what you were into and specifically
what you were into that Women Extanderthought that Stephen Lorenzo was into so that
you could eat all right, we'llexpand upon that a little bit later.
(05:31):
As a result of that, thesuggestion of women expanded. Did you then
have communications in any form with theperson you later learned to be Stephen Lorenzo?
Tell us about the communications. Tellus about how you got booked plucked
with Stephen Lorenzo. We had finallya gun again? How creates message check
(05:59):
to meeting to The first available AOLchat between Scott Schweikert and Stephen Lorenzo is
(06:27):
from October fifteenth, two thousand andthree, less than two and a half
months before Jason Galehouse and Michael Walcholtzwent missing twenty three hours apart in Tampa,
Florida, and if this is infact their first ever online chat,
it begs the question of how theywere introduced, under what context and whether
(06:51):
there was any other prior contact.Because the two men are immediately comfortable discussing
raping and disappear hearing victims. Wedon't have access to their chats and their
entirety, but we do have snippetsas made available in court documents. The
(07:13):
first chat opens with Scott asking Lorenzowhich gay clubs he frequents in Tampa.
One exchange goes as follows. Scottasks Lorenzo if he frequents the gay bar
Chambers. Lorenzo, I am amile from Chambers, but don't go often
since it's all pretty much twinks.Scott. I know I am not into
(07:38):
the stripper and twink scene either.Lol. Does the twink know you are
looking to take him permanently? LorenzoMetropolis? Yes, twenty six oh six,
submit many guys from there, sortof like full moon Scott. That's
cool. Now, whether taking atwink permanently refers to murdering them or kidnapping
(08:05):
them into sex slavery is unclear,but in either case, Scott is bringing
up either murdering or kidnapping someone inwhat is allegedly their very first conversation,
and so you have to ask justhow much did their mutual friend Limit Expander
know about both of them. Theconversation continues, wherein they discussed kidnapping a
(08:33):
specific person, someone who uses thescreen name Johnny Torture. Scott, so,
how do you get him to submitto the bondage drug um? Kidnapping
scenes are always the best ever Takea straight boy, Lorenzo, Yes,
yes, yes, all of theabove, but no idea where they are
(08:56):
no trace to find me once released. They go on discussing the use of
drugs to make boys submit, makingstraight boys disappear, and how when straight
boys do disappear, they are oftenconsidered runaways by both their families and law
enforcement. Scott, tell them weare going to a party and invite them
(09:20):
along. Tell them we need tostop off at one of our places,
drug them there, and then thatis it for them, Lorenzo. Easy
to make them vanish with no linkto us in the least. Six days
later, on October twenty first,Lorenzo and Schweikert discuss kidnapping a submissive to
(09:43):
use as a sex slave. Lorenzo, I knew of a couple of boys
that were sold to others and usedin a few snuff type movies, so
their fate was sealed right after theywere sold. They didn't know that,
of course, until it was happeningto them. Scott, Then the fear
(10:03):
is real and death is unexpected.Just need to keep the fantasy ones and
the ones that will work in thereal world clear in our minds. Lorenzo.
Yes, don't get greedy or sloppy, but be realistic. If a
situation like it is going to shit, back off and wait for another time.
(10:26):
Around the time of these first twochats is when Scott Schweiker abruptly and
somewhat randomly moved from his family homein Peru, Illinois, to Orlando,
Florida, supposedly to take a personaltraining course. Two weeks later, the
pair discussed luring a specific man fromAtlanta to Tampa and then kidnapping him.
(10:50):
And you'll remember from the last episodethat Stephen Lorenzo had a particular interest in
missing gay men from Georgia. Scott, he would not submit willingly, Lorenzo,
okay, could set it when heis taken down to say something different,
Scott. But he trusts me enoughto go out and drink under the
(11:11):
guise of hunting other boys and totalk and learn. Lorenzo, I can
get all we need to drug him, Scott great, after that he is
gone forever, get him good anddrunk and drugged. Just need to be
sure that he has not told anyonewhere he is gone or that he will
(11:33):
be visiting me. The pair thendecided to meet in person, face to
face for the first time. Theyagreed to meet the next night, November
tenth at twenty six o six,the club Jason Galehouse was last seen at,
so they could further discuss abducting asubmissive. They then circle back to
(11:56):
the man from Atlanta. Scott,he won't suspect a thing, Lorenzo and
set having a vehicle to whisk himaway. Scott, just tell him we
are going to another bar and thathe can ride with us. Then when
the drugs kick in, he willpass out in the van. Then we
(12:16):
just hit the highway and he isgone. He will just think it's my
play van. He won't think anythingof it. Lorenzo. I do a
chokehold behind you, hold him downtill he is out, and we strap
him up not to be found again. Scott perfect. Or if we have
access to drugs, simply drug hisdrink and as soon as he finishes it,
(12:41):
tell him we are ready to moveon to another bar. Lorenzo.
Yep, all and many ways.Scott. Then we have enough time to
get him to the van before thedrugs kick in. Lorenzo and Schweikert continue
planning the abduction of the man fromAtlanta for the following two weeks. In
(13:05):
those subsequent chats, they discussed druggingboth him and another local boy at the
same time, and then torturing themboth together. They discuss using multiple cameras
and camcorders to film the torture andrape of both men, and Lorenzo discusses
his experience doing just that. Theirlast online discussion regarding the Atlanta man occurs
(13:31):
on November twenty eighth, and it'sunclear if he was ever found by investigators
or if he ever met with foulplay while in Tampa. And on December
sixth, the pair met at twentysix o six to essentially scope out potential
victims. Five days later, theychat online regarding one such potential victim they
(13:54):
encountered on the sixth at twenty sixo six. Scott thought about coming over
there again and looking for that hustlerkid again. Lorenzo then brings up a
man whom he and Schweikert previously broughtback to Lorenzo's house. Lorenzo spoke to
that guy we had that morning.We'll fill you in, Scott. I
(14:18):
bet he went home and jacked offto what happened to him many times over
Tampa. Pede were able to trackthis man down, and his story painted
a picture of how truly dangerous ScottSchweiker and Stephen Lorenzo were as a pair.
(14:46):
On July nineteenth of two thousand andfour, Tampa Pede met with the
man the court calls Witness A,the man Lorenzo and Schweikert talked about in
their December eleventh AOL chat. WitnessA was a closeted married man, and
Tampa PD first approached him that morningat his place of employment in front of
(15:11):
his employer. They asked him aboutsexually explicit AOL chats he had with Lorenzo
in front of his employer. Now, it's important to stress that in two
thousand and four, it was legalfor employers to fire their employees on the
(15:33):
basis of being gay. Witness Acould have been outed by Tampa PD and
subsequently fired by his employer, whichis disgusting on its own, and all
the more disgusting when you take intoconsideration that Tampa PD were pretty certain Witness
(15:54):
A was a victim of Lorenzo andSchweikert somehow. Nineteen years later, it
has only gotten more challenging for gaypeople in the state of Florida, with
a litany of new anti LGBTQ legislation, including don't Say Gay laws enacted by
Governor DeSantis. There are even traveladvisory warnings issued by the ACLU and the
(16:18):
Human Rights Campaign to protect gay andtrans people from devastating impacts of laws at
are hostile to the LGBTQ community,and so witness A denied participating in any
such instant message conversations until his bosseventually left the room briefly, at which
(16:45):
point witness A told Tampa Pde thathe'd be willing to discuss the chats away
from his place of employment at alater time. Six and a half hours
later, witness A met with theinvestorstigators at a fast food restaurant near twenty
six o six. Witness Ay toldinvestigators that he and his wife had been
(17:08):
married for more than fifteen years,that they had a young daughter together,
and that he wasn't comfortable talking infront of his employer because he was closeted
and no one in his life,including his wife and employer, knew that
he was gay. He admitted thathe did in fact chat with Stephen Lorenzo
(17:29):
on AOL instant messenger at least once, and possibly further. He said that
he wasn't exactly sure how many times, because he was so traumatized by what
happened that he's tried to forget Lorenzoaltogether. He said that on the morning
of December seventh, the morning afterLorenzo and Schweikert met at twenty six o
(17:51):
six to look for potential victims,he chatted with Lorenzo online while his wife
and daughter were out of the house. He said that he was curious about
the dominant submissive subculture. He saidthat they chatted briefly, and then he
agreed to meet Lorenzo and another manat a cash and carry store on the
corner of West Hillsborough and North Armenia, two and a half miles up North
(18:17):
Armenia from twenty six o six andjust a mile and a half down West
Hillsborough from Lorenzo's house at two thirteenWest Powaton Avenue. He reported that Lorenzo
and the second man arrived in asmall red car, and that Lorenzo rode
with witness ay from the cash andcarry back to Lorenzo's house on West Powaton.
(18:44):
Upon entering the house through a reardoor concealed from the street, both
Lorenzo and the second man immediately attackedwitness Ay. They forced him to the
floor, blindfolded him, and tiedhis hands behind his back. I'm going
to share Witness AA's account of whathappened next. Obviously, it contains talk
(19:07):
of rape and torture. If you'dlike to skip it, just skip ahead
one minute and thirty seconds. WitnessA began begging for them to stop,
but they punched him repeatedly and toldhim that if he didn't stop fighting,
(19:29):
they would hurt him. Then oneof the men said, you might not
leave alive. We can abandon yourcar in a ditch and make you disappear.
No one knows you're here, andthey'll never find your body. The
pair carried witness A into a nearbybedroom, where they restrained his ankles and
(19:52):
removed his pants. They began torturinghim with a metal rod and act known
as sounding. He screamed and eventuallybegan hyperventilating. Witnesses reported that throughout the
attack, the two men called eachother by the names Scott and Anthony,
and that at one point he wasable to briefly remove the blindfold from his
(20:15):
face. He could see the roomand his attackers. He described Lorenzo as
naked from the waist down and Scottas completely clothed. They re blindfolded him,
and when he asked for water,they dripped liquid onto his face and
lips. He said that throughout theattack, one of the two men was
(20:37):
trying to comfort and cuddle him whilethe other continued the torture. When he
briefly got the blindfold off, herealized it was Lorenzo who was doing the
cuddling. The two men eventually releasedWitness Ay, who believes he had been
drugged during the attack, likely whenthey dripped an unknown liquid on toto wid
(21:00):
face. He left the house dizzyand disoriented. Because of both the trauma
and his fear of being outed,Witness Ay never reported the attack. It's
a strategy that Lorenzo and Schweikert discussedin their many online chats. Ten days
(21:22):
after the assault on witness A,Stephen and Scott were back on Ao Wel
planning their next attack. They firstdiscussed several unnamed men they were trying to
lure to Tampa from out of town. Lorenzo less time and energy can delay
that one. This probably now ornever, Scott very true and as you
(21:45):
say, even if they don't showup, there is always the Avenue Boys.
Lorenzo yep I prefer to follow leastpath of resistance and can always have
a fallback plan. So it's goodif all put into one basket and it
falls apart, two harder to makeup lost time. This was two days
(22:10):
prior to a second planned trip thatScott would take to stay with Lorenzo and
hunt for boys. Two days later, Jason Galehouse would be missing and Michael
Wacholtz would be dead. As TampaPeede began looking into Scott Schweikert as possibly
(22:38):
being the Scott involved in the kidnapping, rape, and torture of witness A.
They also started going through Lorenzo's variousphone and AOL contacts. On August
ninth of two thousand and four,they met with a man named Daniel Waters.
Daniel told Tampa Peedee that he firstmet Steve Lorenzo approximately thirteen years prior
(23:03):
at Howard Avenue Station, a gaybar in Tampa. He said that prior
to that, Lorenzo had dated oneof Daniel's former boyfriends while living in Albany,
New York, and that at somepoint in ninety six, Daniel developed
an intimate relationship of his own withLorenzo. That relationship lasted two years.
(23:26):
He told Tampa Peede that Lorenzo owneda second residence in Fort Lauderdale, Florida,
about two hundred and fifty miles fromTampa, just north of Miami.
He said that he last saw Lorenzoin May of two thousand and four,
when he and his new partner Damien, invited Lorenzo over to teach them about
(23:48):
bondage. They did not care forwhat Lorenzo showed them. Daniel talked about
Lorenzo's history with drugs and about rumorsaround town he'd heard that linked Lorenzo to
several murders. He also reported thatwhile at a mutual friend's house, he
heard that Lorenzo had assaulted and rapeda man named Kevin. Following their interview
(24:15):
with Daniel, Tampa Pedi met witha couple named Anthony and on Hell.
Anthony had been linked to Lorenzo viaAOL messages, but on Hell advised that
he had actually chatted with Lorenzo onAOL, but that those chats never led
to anything physical, at which pointAnthony interjected that he would never allow Stephen
(24:37):
Lorenzo into their home, that heknew who he was and had seen him
at several gay bars in town,and that's when he told investigators about Stephen
Lorenzo allegedly assaulting their friend Brian witha mallet six years prior. On September
(24:59):
twenty eighth, investigators tracked down andmet with Johnny Torture, the man that
Lorenzo and Schweikert discussed kidnapping during theirinitial online conversations. Johnny Torture told the
investigators that he had met Stephen Lorenzoin the late nineteen eighties when Lorenzo did
some home improvement work for him,but he said that he'd never engaged in
(25:21):
any sexual activity with Lorenzo, butthat he had met Lorenzo's friend Master Scott
at twenty six oh six. Hesaid that Master Scott had recently moved to
Florida from the Chicago area. Hevehemently denied ever being kidnapped or assaulted by
(25:41):
Lorenzo or Master Scott. Meanwhile,Tampa Peedee also set up an undercover operation
to contact Master Scott on AOL andfor three months, an undercover officer engaged
in more than fourty online communications withMaster Scott. The content of those conversations
(26:06):
was largely Master Scott assisting the undercoveragent in the drug facilitated abduction of a
third party. Master Scott discussed takinggay men by force with the use of
Rufe's ecstasy in GHB, and inthose chats, Master Scott admitted to abducting
and assaulting a man while in Tampa. He also gave specific instructions on how
(26:33):
to roofy an unsuspecting victim, alongwith the estimated dosage based on a victim's
approximate weight, and then he toldthe undercover officer how to kidnap someone without
being seen and specified that using ahouse with an attached garage would be the
best way to get away with it. In a September twenty three, two
(26:56):
thousand four, chat, Master Scotttold the undercover cop how to disrobe and
bind a victim. Scott, onceassured is off and the hands are bound,
there is little he can do afterthat, then getting the pants off
quickly and getting his feet bound.After that, he can try all he
likes, but he won't be goinganywhere. On November two of two thousand
(27:22):
and four, almost a year afterJason Galehouse and Michael Walcholtz went missing.
Tampa PDE arrested Stephen Lorenzo on sixcounts of drug facilitated sexual assault. When
shown a photo of Scott Schweikert's MasterScott profile, Lorenzo immediately identified him as
Scott and then said he would notdiscuss anything related to the charges filed against
(27:49):
him, but he would cooperate withAnswering questions about Scott, Lorenzo said that
he doesn't nor had he ever partitiondissipated in any violent acts kidnappings, assaults,
or murders as those depicted in hisonline activity. He said that the
AOL chats were simply for fantasy,but he did confirm that he had chatted
(28:14):
with Scott numerous times online and thathe met Scott in person several times,
including during their encounter with witness A, which Lorenzo described as mostly consensual.
Lorenzo told investigators that after driving witnessA from the Cash and Carry to his
(28:34):
house on Powaton Avenue, he andScott assumed their roles as dominance in this
pre planned dominant submissive encounter. Hesaid that no force was ever used,
but that while in the bedroom Scotthad gone overboard, which he described as
Scott punching Witness A in both thestomach and testicles. He went on to
(28:59):
tell that Scott, and only Scott, had sounded witness A and that while
this was happening, he did hisbest to comfort Witness Ay and told him
that Scott was just losing control.He could not confirm whether any illegal narcotics
were used during the encounter, butsaid that he did receive an e mail
(29:22):
from Witness Ay at some point thereafter, saying that he wanted to meet up
again, just this time without Scott. As you'll recall, Witness A told
police that he never wanted to seeLorenzo again after this assault. Lorenzo was
clearly positioning Scott as the sole aggressorin the incident with Witness A, and
(29:45):
then police asked him about the nightof December nineteenth, the night that he
and Scott went to twenty six ohsix together, the knight that Jason Galehouse
disappeared from twenty six oh six.Lorenzo told police that Scott drove out from
Orlando that weekend to stay with him, that Scott had made plans to bring
(30:07):
two male escorts out with him,but those plans fell through, and so
the pair went to twenty six osix to look for a submissive to take
home with them. He said thatScott was essentially wearing dom cos play.
He was dressed in head to toeleather, which made him a bit of
a spectacle at twenty six o six. He said that while they were there,
(30:30):
he and Scott didn't spend much timetogether, but that at around one
a m. Scott approached him tosay that he'd found a submissive to take
home. Lorenzo claimed that he nevermet this person, but that Scott had
pointed him out from across the bar. He then alleged that the pair went
back to Lorenzo's house so Scott couldget his car, because this submissive didn't
(30:53):
want to be taken by two dominants, just Scott, so from Lorenzo's house
they parted ways. Scott went backto twenty six o six to pick up
the submissive, and Lorenzo went tobed. Police then put a photo of
Jason galehouse in front of Stephen.Lorenzo and Stephen began to sob. Lorenzo
(31:22):
told police that he recognized the manin the photo as one of the missing
gay men in Tampa, and thensaid that he did look a lot like
the guy that Scott planned on hookingup with that night at twenty six o
six. Police then showed him aphoto of Michael Wackolet's, this time more
composed. Lorenzo said that he recognizedhim from the news, but denied ever
(31:45):
seeing him in person. When theyreturned the photo of Jason Galehouse to the
table in front of Lorenzo, Lorenzoimmediately began sobbing again. On November third,
the very next day, Tampa Peedeetraveled to Peru, Illinois to assist
(32:05):
in the execution of a federal searchwarrant of Scott Schweikert's family home. You
will learn that mister Walkolt's, asI mentioned, was killed on December twenty
first, that is, the Sundaymorning before Christmas in two thousand and three.
(32:29):
Christmas was a very important time andwas specifically chosen by mister Schweikert and
mister Lorenzo because losing a loved oneat Christmas time would cause the families even
more pain. Now there's no questionthat both Scott Schweikert and Stephen Lorenzo were
(32:53):
in some capacity involved in the disappearanceof Jason Galehouse and the death of Michael
Walkol. But upon police intervention,the two friends immediately turned on one another,
each painting the other as the outof control aggressor, each with a
(33:13):
contradictory story of what happened that weekend. And so the question became, were
either of them telling the truth orwere neither of them telling the truth?
And could one or both of thembe responsible for other cases of missing gay
men and unsolved gay homicides in Tampaand the other cities each of them lived
(33:39):
in. And that is where ourinvestigation begins. Rien like wand from the
(34:32):
ball at the truck and the otherstop the man gunning in fold it right
things, This says a hastle hispace feelbut itself and sent to me was
(34:55):
almost on a beat. So winto a fly a leading fast to a
false com if B is bout ofin scolia string on the song. This
(35:37):
episode was written, researched, edited, and produced by Me Your Host Josh
Hallmark, with additional research by Kazand audio editing by Darren Wood of The
Defense Diaries. Resources included the CharlieProject, NamUs Newspapers dot Com, The
Tampa Bay Times, CNN dot Com, and Equality Florida Action, Inc.
(35:59):
The episode was made possible by thefollowing Patreon producers Adrian I Yello, Amelia
Hancock, Amy Basel and Nettelle,Benjamin Choppathong, Casey Jensen, Richardson,
Dana Keith, Doctor Jill Cooper,Drew Vipond, Hallie Reed, Jessica,
Ali Hodsig, Gillian Atale, JohnO'Leary, Kendall, C, Kimberly K,
Lauren f Linley, tuscoff Manolas Bullicus, Megan cap Seewell, Mike Sherman,
(36:20):
Nicole and Dennis Henry, Sarah King, sc Shannon Foster, Shelley Brewer,
Tuesday Woodworth, Zach Ignatowitz, Warren, Beth McNally, John Comery,
Jordan Taylor, Carly McNutt, Lona, Sarah c and Lydia Fiedler. Thank
you to Studio both Anne's newest Patreonsupporters, Faith T. Kineva, Lisa,
Mary Mallory s, Pamela B Shawnm Shelby, g Bleep, Brandy
(36:43):
C. Kendall, s, Nataliel Farren, Kathleen A, Jamie p
and Devin CFC to support the investigation, go to Patreon dot com, Slash
Studio both and This episode included musicby Circles the Bows, Spirator color Book
and has read with featured music byOwen Palette Twilt. Stay Away from the
(37:22):
Canada the source of smalls composed Ternoonpassing saslay Sun to the faces, fains
(38:50):
to my friend. Still stay timethe game there in Spa. It can have any
This is a studio both and production. Scott Paul Schweikert was born in Peru,
Illinois, on August tenth of nineteensixty five. The Schweikerts were a
(00:30):
prominent and well connected family in thearea, with thirteen children. According to
the Tampa Bay Times, Scott wasa quiet and polite boy who attended the
local Catholic church and graduated high schoolwith a three point sixty four GPA.
He went on to earn two bachelor'sdegrees from Illinois State University. His family
(00:52):
and community had high hopes for him. Of course, by now we all
know what happened, and during Scott'stime at ISU an assault and attempted rape
on a fellow student, for whichScott merely served six months in jail.
Halfway through that jail time, hisparents wrote to the judge requesting that Scott
(01:15):
be let out early so he couldattend their fiftieth anniversary party. Make of
that what you will. Five anda half years later, after bouncing around
from courthouse to courthouse and state tostate, Scott met Steven Lorenzo and in
(01:36):
short order found himself in Orlando,Florida. In October of twenty three,
where are you living, how longhad you lived and what was the purpose
for your moving to Okay? Andwere you in the process of taking that
(02:02):
course in personal training in October oftwo thousand and three? Are you familiar
with an online application called America Onlineand were you familiar with America Online in
October of two thousand and three priorto two thousand and three? Had you
(02:25):
utilize America Online to conduct instant missingchats with individuals? Did you have a
screen name? What was your streamingprior to October of two thousand and three?
(02:47):
Did you know the defendant Cingul Lorento. Do you recall how you were
acquainted with or how you were introducedto Stephen Lawrenson actual tell us about the
place I was talking with another dominantfrom pennsil By Leah everybody that's the name,
(03:10):
the standards that part shrew stuff thatand he had to pay contact with
Lorenz prior to my making contact withthem expand and he noticed that I would
be randel Uh, Mister Lorandi wasin Tampa and you got we got sad
(03:35):
interest and we be one to makeconoment all right? Do you use the
terminal? I want to get clarifiedhere you used used the term another dominant.
Explain to us what you mean byit. The comments you got goverment,
he has the business subvisions, submissionsare looking to submit it to somebody,
(04:00):
to have somebody dominating as the dominant. We learned the dominating pieces.
So you and the gay community wereconsider yourself as a dominant. Yes,
and Limited Expander was aware that youwere a domind Yes. Uh, obviously
(04:23):
Limited Expander decided that it was anit was maybe good for you to meet
Stephen Lorenzo. Did you did youcome to learn based upon your communications with
Stephen Lorenzo or Limited Expander is whyit was that the Limited Expander decided that
(04:44):
it was it was important for youto meet Stephen Lorenzo. Well, he
said that we had similar interests.You've been talking with n I guess for
a while and unforture at all,and we act a couple of times and
we discussed what all we got into, and you thought that we were into
(05:05):
alized. Okay, so then tellus about what you were into and specifically
what you were into that Women Extanderthought that Stephen Lorenzo was into so that
you could eat all right, we'llexpand upon that a little bit later.
(05:31):
As a result of that, thesuggestion of women expanded. Did you then
have communications in any form with theperson you later learned to be Stephen Lorenzo?
Tell us about the communications. Tellus about how you got booked plucked
with Stephen Lorenzo. We had finallya gun again? How creates message check
(05:59):
to meeting to The first available AOLchat between Scott Schweikert and Stephen Lorenzo is
(06:27):
from October fifteenth, two thousand andthree, less than two and a half
months before Jason Galehouse and Michael Walcholtzwent missing twenty three hours apart in Tampa,
Florida, and if this is infact their first ever online chat,
it begs the question of how theywere introduced, under what context and whether
(06:51):
there was any other prior contact.Because the two men are immediately comfortable discussing
raping and disappear hearing victims. Wedon't have access to their chats and their
entirety, but we do have snippetsas made available in court documents. The
(07:13):
first chat opens with Scott asking Lorenzowhich gay clubs he frequents in Tampa.
One exchange goes as follows. Scottasks Lorenzo if he frequents the gay bar
Chambers. Lorenzo, I am amile from Chambers, but don't go often
since it's all pretty much twinks.Scott. I know I am not into
(07:38):
the stripper and twink scene either.Lol. Does the twink know you are
looking to take him permanently? LorenzoMetropolis? Yes, twenty six oh six,
submit many guys from there, sortof like full moon Scott. That's
cool. Now, whether taking atwink permanently refers to murdering them or kidnapping
(08:05):
them into sex slavery is unclear,but in either case, Scott is bringing
up either murdering or kidnapping someone inwhat is allegedly their very first conversation,
and so you have to ask justhow much did their mutual friend Limit Expander
know about both of them. Theconversation continues, wherein they discussed kidnapping a
(08:33):
specific person, someone who uses thescreen name Johnny Torture. Scott, so,
how do you get him to submitto the bondage drug um? Kidnapping
scenes are always the best ever Takea straight boy, Lorenzo, Yes,
yes, yes, all of theabove, but no idea where they are
(08:56):
no trace to find me once released. They go on discussing the use of
drugs to make boys submit, makingstraight boys disappear, and how when straight
boys do disappear, they are oftenconsidered runaways by both their families and law
enforcement. Scott, tell them weare going to a party and invite them
(09:20):
along. Tell them we need tostop off at one of our places,
drug them there, and then thatis it for them, Lorenzo. Easy
to make them vanish with no linkto us in the least. Six days
later, on October twenty first,Lorenzo and Schweikert discuss kidnapping a submissive to
(09:43):
use as a sex slave. Lorenzo, I knew of a couple of boys
that were sold to others and usedin a few snuff type movies, so
their fate was sealed right after theywere sold. They didn't know that,
of course, until it was happeningto them. Scott, Then the fear
(10:03):
is real and death is unexpected.Just need to keep the fantasy ones and
the ones that will work in thereal world clear in our minds. Lorenzo.
Yes, don't get greedy or sloppy, but be realistic. If a
situation like it is going to shit, back off and wait for another time.
(10:26):
Around the time of these first twochats is when Scott Schweiker abruptly and
somewhat randomly moved from his family homein Peru, Illinois, to Orlando,
Florida, supposedly to take a personaltraining course. Two weeks later, the
pair discussed luring a specific man fromAtlanta to Tampa and then kidnapping him.
(10:50):
And you'll remember from the last episodethat Stephen Lorenzo had a particular interest in
missing gay men from Georgia. Scott, he would not submit willingly, Lorenzo,
okay, could set it when heis taken down to say something different,
Scott. But he trusts me enoughto go out and drink under the
(11:11):
guise of hunting other boys and totalk and learn. Lorenzo, I can
get all we need to drug him, Scott great, after that he is
gone forever, get him good anddrunk and drugged. Just need to be
sure that he has not told anyonewhere he is gone or that he will
(11:33):
be visiting me. The pair thendecided to meet in person, face to
face for the first time. Theyagreed to meet the next night, November
tenth at twenty six o six,the club Jason Galehouse was last seen at,
so they could further discuss abducting asubmissive. They then circle back to
(11:56):
the man from Atlanta. Scott,he won't suspect a thing, Lorenzo and
set having a vehicle to whisk himaway. Scott, just tell him we
are going to another bar and thathe can ride with us. Then when
the drugs kick in, he willpass out in the van. Then we
(12:16):
just hit the highway and he isgone. He will just think it's my
play van. He won't think anythingof it. Lorenzo. I do a
chokehold behind you, hold him downtill he is out, and we strap
him up not to be found again. Scott perfect. Or if we have
access to drugs, simply drug hisdrink and as soon as he finishes it,
(12:41):
tell him we are ready to moveon to another bar. Lorenzo.
Yep, all and many ways.Scott. Then we have enough time to
get him to the van before thedrugs kick in. Lorenzo and Schweikert continue
planning the abduction of the man fromAtlanta for the following two weeks. In
(13:05):
those subsequent chats, they discussed druggingboth him and another local boy at the
same time, and then torturing themboth together. They discuss using multiple cameras
and camcorders to film the torture andrape of both men, and Lorenzo discusses
his experience doing just that. Theirlast online discussion regarding the Atlanta man occurs
(13:31):
on November twenty eighth, and it'sunclear if he was ever found by investigators
or if he ever met with foulplay while in Tampa. And on December
sixth, the pair met at twentysix o six to essentially scope out potential
victims. Five days later, theychat online regarding one such potential victim they
(13:54):
encountered on the sixth at twenty sixo six. Scott thought about coming over
there again and looking for that hustlerkid again. Lorenzo then brings up a
man whom he and Schweikert previously broughtback to Lorenzo's house. Lorenzo spoke to
that guy we had that morning.We'll fill you in, Scott. I
(14:18):
bet he went home and jacked offto what happened to him many times over
Tampa. Pede were able to trackthis man down, and his story painted
a picture of how truly dangerous ScottSchweiker and Stephen Lorenzo were as a pair.
(14:46):
On July nineteenth of two thousand andfour, Tampa Pede met with the
man the court calls Witness A,the man Lorenzo and Schweikert talked about in
their December eleventh AOL chat. WitnessA was a closeted married man, and
Tampa PD first approached him that morningat his place of employment in front of
(15:11):
his employer. They asked him aboutsexually explicit AOL chats he had with Lorenzo
in front of his employer. Now, it's important to stress that in two
thousand and four, it was legalfor employers to fire their employees on the
(15:33):
basis of being gay. Witness Acould have been outed by Tampa PD and
subsequently fired by his employer, whichis disgusting on its own, and all
the more disgusting when you take intoconsideration that Tampa PD were pretty certain Witness
(15:54):
A was a victim of Lorenzo andSchweikert somehow. Nineteen years later, it
has only gotten more challenging for gaypeople in the state of Florida, with
a litany of new anti LGBTQ legislation, including don't Say Gay laws enacted by
Governor DeSantis. There are even traveladvisory warnings issued by the ACLU and the
(16:18):
Human Rights Campaign to protect gay andtrans people from devastating impacts of laws at
are hostile to the LGBTQ community,and so witness A denied participating in any
such instant message conversations until his bosseventually left the room briefly, at which
(16:45):
point witness A told Tampa Pde thathe'd be willing to discuss the chats away
from his place of employment at alater time. Six and a half hours
later, witness A met with theinvestorstigators at a fast food restaurant near twenty
six o six. Witness Ay toldinvestigators that he and his wife had been
(17:08):
married for more than fifteen years,that they had a young daughter together,
and that he wasn't comfortable talking infront of his employer because he was closeted
and no one in his life,including his wife and employer, knew that
he was gay. He admitted thathe did in fact chat with Stephen Lorenzo
(17:29):
on AOL instant messenger at least once, and possibly further. He said that
he wasn't exactly sure how many times, because he was so traumatized by what
happened that he's tried to forget Lorenzoaltogether. He said that on the morning
of December seventh, the morning afterLorenzo and Schweikert met at twenty six o
(17:51):
six to look for potential victims,he chatted with Lorenzo online while his wife
and daughter were out of the house. He said that he was curious about
the dominant submissive subculture. He saidthat they chatted briefly, and then he
agreed to meet Lorenzo and another manat a cash and carry store on the
corner of West Hillsborough and North Armenia, two and a half miles up North
(18:17):
Armenia from twenty six o six andjust a mile and a half down West
Hillsborough from Lorenzo's house at two thirteenWest Powaton Avenue. He reported that Lorenzo
and the second man arrived in asmall red car, and that Lorenzo rode
with witness ay from the cash andcarry back to Lorenzo's house on West Powaton.
(18:44):
Upon entering the house through a reardoor concealed from the street, both
Lorenzo and the second man immediately attackedwitness Ay. They forced him to the
floor, blindfolded him, and tiedhis hands behind his back. I'm going
to share Witness AA's account of whathappened next. Obviously, it contains talk
(19:07):
of rape and torture. If you'dlike to skip it, just skip ahead
one minute and thirty seconds. WitnessA began begging for them to stop,
but they punched him repeatedly and toldhim that if he didn't stop fighting,
(19:29):
they would hurt him. Then oneof the men said, you might not
leave alive. We can abandon yourcar in a ditch and make you disappear.
No one knows you're here, andthey'll never find your body. The
pair carried witness A into a nearbybedroom, where they restrained his ankles and
(19:52):
removed his pants. They began torturinghim with a metal rod and act known
as sounding. He screamed and eventuallybegan hyperventilating. Witnesses reported that throughout the
attack, the two men called eachother by the names Scott and Anthony,
and that at one point he wasable to briefly remove the blindfold from his
(20:15):
face. He could see the roomand his attackers. He described Lorenzo as
naked from the waist down and Scottas completely clothed. They re blindfolded him,
and when he asked for water,they dripped liquid onto his face and
lips. He said that throughout theattack, one of the two men was
(20:37):
trying to comfort and cuddle him whilethe other continued the torture. When he
briefly got the blindfold off, herealized it was Lorenzo who was doing the
cuddling. The two men eventually releasedWitness Ay, who believes he had been
drugged during the attack, likely whenthey dripped an unknown liquid on toto wid
(21:00):
face. He left the house dizzyand disoriented. Because of both the trauma
and his fear of being outed,Witness Ay never reported the attack. It's
a strategy that Lorenzo and Schweikert discussedin their many online chats. Ten days
(21:22):
after the assault on witness A,Stephen and Scott were back on Ao Wel
planning their next attack. They firstdiscussed several unnamed men they were trying to
lure to Tampa from out of town. Lorenzo less time and energy can delay
that one. This probably now ornever, Scott very true and as you
(21:45):
say, even if they don't showup, there is always the Avenue Boys.
Lorenzo yep I prefer to follow leastpath of resistance and can always have
a fallback plan. So it's goodif all put into one basket and it
falls apart, two harder to makeup lost time. This was two days
(22:10):
prior to a second planned trip thatScott would take to stay with Lorenzo and
hunt for boys. Two days later, Jason Galehouse would be missing and Michael
Wacholtz would be dead. As TampaPeede began looking into Scott Schweikert as possibly
(22:38):
being the Scott involved in the kidnapping, rape, and torture of witness A.
They also started going through Lorenzo's variousphone and AOL contacts. On August
ninth of two thousand and four,they met with a man named Daniel Waters.
Daniel told Tampa Peedee that he firstmet Steve Lorenzo approximately thirteen years prior
(23:03):
at Howard Avenue Station, a gaybar in Tampa. He said that prior
to that, Lorenzo had dated oneof Daniel's former boyfriends while living in Albany,
New York, and that at somepoint in ninety six, Daniel developed
an intimate relationship of his own withLorenzo. That relationship lasted two years.
(23:26):
He told Tampa Peede that Lorenzo owneda second residence in Fort Lauderdale, Florida,
about two hundred and fifty miles fromTampa, just north of Miami.
He said that he last saw Lorenzoin May of two thousand and four,
when he and his new partner Damien, invited Lorenzo over to teach them about
(23:48):
bondage. They did not care forwhat Lorenzo showed them. Daniel talked about
Lorenzo's history with drugs and about rumorsaround town he'd heard that linked Lorenzo to
several murders. He also reported thatwhile at a mutual friend's house, he
heard that Lorenzo had assaulted and rapeda man named Kevin. Following their interview
(24:15):
with Daniel, Tampa Pedi met witha couple named Anthony and on Hell.
Anthony had been linked to Lorenzo viaAOL messages, but on Hell advised that
he had actually chatted with Lorenzo onAOL, but that those chats never led
to anything physical, at which pointAnthony interjected that he would never allow Stephen
(24:37):
Lorenzo into their home, that heknew who he was and had seen him
at several gay bars in town,and that's when he told investigators about Stephen
Lorenzo allegedly assaulting their friend Brian witha mallet six years prior. On September
(24:59):
twenty eighth, investigators tracked down andmet with Johnny Torture, the man that
Lorenzo and Schweikert discussed kidnapping during theirinitial online conversations. Johnny Torture told the
investigators that he had met Stephen Lorenzoin the late nineteen eighties when Lorenzo did
some home improvement work for him,but he said that he'd never engaged in
(25:21):
any sexual activity with Lorenzo, butthat he had met Lorenzo's friend Master Scott
at twenty six oh six. Hesaid that Master Scott had recently moved to
Florida from the Chicago area. Hevehemently denied ever being kidnapped or assaulted by
(25:41):
Lorenzo or Master Scott. Meanwhile,Tampa Peedee also set up an undercover operation
to contact Master Scott on AOL andfor three months, an undercover officer engaged
in more than fourty online communications withMaster Scott. The content of those conversations
(26:06):
was largely Master Scott assisting the undercoveragent in the drug facilitated abduction of a
third party. Master Scott discussed takinggay men by force with the use of
Rufe's ecstasy in GHB, and inthose chats, Master Scott admitted to abducting
and assaulting a man while in Tampa. He also gave specific instructions on how
(26:33):
to roofy an unsuspecting victim, alongwith the estimated dosage based on a victim's
approximate weight, and then he toldthe undercover officer how to kidnap someone without
being seen and specified that using ahouse with an attached garage would be the
best way to get away with it. In a September twenty three, two
(26:56):
thousand four, chat, Master Scotttold the undercover cop how to disrobe and
bind a victim. Scott, onceassured is off and the hands are bound,
there is little he can do afterthat, then getting the pants off
quickly and getting his feet bound.After that, he can try all he
likes, but he won't be goinganywhere. On November two of two thousand
(27:22):
and four, almost a year afterJason Galehouse and Michael Walcholtz went missing.
Tampa PDE arrested Stephen Lorenzo on sixcounts of drug facilitated sexual assault. When
shown a photo of Scott Schweikert's MasterScott profile, Lorenzo immediately identified him as
Scott and then said he would notdiscuss anything related to the charges filed against
(27:49):
him, but he would cooperate withAnswering questions about Scott, Lorenzo said that
he doesn't nor had he ever partitiondissipated in any violent acts kidnappings, assaults,
or murders as those depicted in hisonline activity. He said that the
AOL chats were simply for fantasy,but he did confirm that he had chatted
(28:14):
with Scott numerous times online and thathe met Scott in person several times,
including during their encounter with witness A, which Lorenzo described as mostly consensual.
Lorenzo told investigators that after driving witnessA from the Cash and Carry to his
(28:34):
house on Powaton Avenue, he andScott assumed their roles as dominance in this
pre planned dominant submissive encounter. Hesaid that no force was ever used,
but that while in the bedroom Scotthad gone overboard, which he described as
Scott punching Witness A in both thestomach and testicles. He went on to
(28:59):
tell that Scott, and only Scott, had sounded witness A and that while
this was happening, he did hisbest to comfort Witness Ay and told him
that Scott was just losing control.He could not confirm whether any illegal narcotics
were used during the encounter, butsaid that he did receive an e mail
(29:22):
from Witness Ay at some point thereafter, saying that he wanted to meet up
again, just this time without Scott. As you'll recall, Witness A told
police that he never wanted to seeLorenzo again after this assault. Lorenzo was
clearly positioning Scott as the sole aggressorin the incident with Witness A, and
(29:45):
then police asked him about the nightof December nineteenth, the night that he
and Scott went to twenty six ohsix together, the knight that Jason Galehouse
disappeared from twenty six oh six.Lorenzo told police that Scott drove out from
Orlando that weekend to stay with him, that Scott had made plans to bring
(30:07):
two male escorts out with him,but those plans fell through, and so
the pair went to twenty six osix to look for a submissive to take
home with them. He said thatScott was essentially wearing dom cos play.
He was dressed in head to toeleather, which made him a bit of
a spectacle at twenty six o six. He said that while they were there,
(30:30):
he and Scott didn't spend much timetogether, but that at around one
a m. Scott approached him tosay that he'd found a submissive to take
home. Lorenzo claimed that he nevermet this person, but that Scott had
pointed him out from across the bar. He then alleged that the pair went
back to Lorenzo's house so Scott couldget his car, because this submissive didn't
(30:53):
want to be taken by two dominants, just Scott, so from Lorenzo's house
they parted ways. Scott went backto twenty six o six to pick up
the submissive, and Lorenzo went tobed. Police then put a photo of
Jason galehouse in front of Stephen.Lorenzo and Stephen began to sob. Lorenzo
(31:22):
told police that he recognized the manin the photo as one of the missing
gay men in Tampa, and thensaid that he did look a lot like
the guy that Scott planned on hookingup with that night at twenty six o
six. Police then showed him aphoto of Michael Wackolet's, this time more
composed. Lorenzo said that he recognizedhim from the news, but denied ever
(31:45):
seeing him in person. When theyreturned the photo of Jason Galehouse to the
table in front of Lorenzo, Lorenzoimmediately began sobbing again. On November third,
the very next day, Tampa Peedeetraveled to Peru, Illinois to assist
(32:05):
in the execution of a federal searchwarrant of Scott Schweikert's family home. You
will learn that mister Walkolt's, asI mentioned, was killed on December twenty
first, that is, the Sundaymorning before Christmas in two thousand and three.
(32:29):
Christmas was a very important time andwas specifically chosen by mister Schweikert and
mister Lorenzo because losing a loved oneat Christmas time would cause the families even
more pain. Now there's no questionthat both Scott Schweikert and Stephen Lorenzo were
(32:53):
in some capacity involved in the disappearanceof Jason Galehouse and the death of Michael
Walkol. But upon police intervention,the two friends immediately turned on one another,
each painting the other as the outof control aggressor, each with a
(33:13):
contradictory story of what happened that weekend. And so the question became, were
either of them telling the truth orwere neither of them telling the truth?
And could one or both of thembe responsible for other cases of missing gay
men and unsolved gay homicides in Tampaand the other cities each of them lived
(33:39):
in. And that is where ourinvestigation begins. Rien like wand from the
(34:32):
ball at the truck and the otherstop the man gunning in fold it right
things, This says a hastle hispace feelbut itself and sent to me was
(34:55):
almost on a beat. So winto a fly a leading fast to a
false com if B is bout ofin scolia string on the song. This
(35:37):
episode was written, researched, edited, and produced by Me Your Host Josh
Hallmark, with additional research by Kazand audio editing by Darren Wood of The
Defense Diaries. Resources included the CharlieProject, NamUs Newspapers dot Com, The
Tampa Bay Times, CNN dot Com, and Equality Florida Action, Inc.
(35:59):
The episode was made possible by thefollowing Patreon producers Adrian I Yello, Amelia
Hancock, Amy Basel and Nettelle,Benjamin Choppathong, Casey Jensen, Richardson,
Dana Keith, Doctor Jill Cooper,Drew Vipond, Hallie Reed, Jessica,
Ali Hodsig, Gillian Atale, JohnO'Leary, Kendall, C, Kimberly K,
Lauren f Linley, tuscoff Manolas Bullicus, Megan cap Seewell, Mike Sherman,
(36:20):
Nicole and Dennis Henry, Sarah King, sc Shannon Foster, Shelley Brewer,
Tuesday Woodworth, Zach Ignatowitz, Warren, Beth McNally, John Comery,
Jordan Taylor, Carly McNutt, Lona, Sarah c and Lydia Fiedler. Thank
you to Studio both Anne's newest Patreonsupporters, Faith T. Kineva, Lisa,
Mary Mallory s, Pamela B Shawnm Shelby, g Bleep, Brandy
(36:43):
C. Kendall, s, Nataliel Farren, Kathleen A, Jamie p
and Devin CFC to support the investigation, go to Patreon dot com, Slash
Studio both and This episode included musicby Circles the Bows, Spirator color Book
and has read with featured music byOwen Palette Twilt. Stay Away from the
(37:22):
Canada the source of smalls composed Ternoonpassing saslay Sun to the faces, fains
(38:50):
to my friend. Still stay timethe game there in Spa. It can have any
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Crime Junkie
Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by audiochuck Media Company.
24/7 News: The Latest
The latest news in 4 minutes updated every hour, every day.