The trial of
Scott Schweickert, the second man charged in connection with
the deaths of two gay men near Tampa, Fla., began on Monday,
the St. Petersburg Times reports. Schweickert is
accused of helping another man drug two gay men before their
deaths in 2003.
Michael
Wachholtz's body was discovered three years ago wrapped in a
sheet in the back of a Jeep Cherokee parked in a remote area
of an apartment complex in Town 'N Country, an
unincorporated area near Tampa. Jason Galehouse,
another young gay man, had vanished around the same
time. The crime and the disappearance touched off one of the
most high-profile murder investigations in the area's
recent history.
Schweickert , 41,
is charged with conspiracy and assisting in a
drug-facilitated crime of violence. His case is being heard
in a U.S. district court.
Steven Lorenzo,
with whom Schweickert is accused of conspiring, was found
guilty in the case in November 2005. He was convicted on
nine counts of administering GHB, a central nervous
system depressant, with the intent of committing
violence. He was sentenced to 200 years in prison. (The
Advocate)
