A Chicago man was charged in connection with the disappearance of two men who police believe were drugged, raped and killed in Tampa, Fla., according to media reports. Police are not sure if there is a connection with recent murders of Chicago gay men.
Scott Paul Schweickert, 39, of Chicago was charged with being an accessory after the fact related to a drug-facilitated crime of violence. Schweickert waived his detention hearing on May 20 and remained in custody. If convicted, he could face 10 years in prison.
In February, Steven Lorenzo, 46, of Tampa, Fla., was charged with seven counts of drug-facilitated crimes of violence, the U.S. attorney's office said. He was indicted in November on federal drug charges.
At last report, both men were in custody at the Hillsborough County ( Fla. ) Jail.
Six men reported taking drinks from Lorenzo, then waking hours later, naked and injured, according to the indictment. A seventh man was later added to the case.
Schweickert and Lorenzo are accused of luring two Tampa men to their deaths by drugging them, sexually torturing, raping, and then killing them, authorities said. One of those victims, Jason Galehouse, was killed and dismembered on Dec. 19, 2003, after sex with the two defendants, officials said.
According to the indictment, Lorenzo allegedly held Galehouse in a 'sleeper hold' until he became unconscious. The next night Michael Wachholtz was drugged, raped, and killed. His body was found on Jan. 6, 2004, wrapped in a bed sheet in his Jeep, according to authorities.
After his arrest, Lorenzo said he only had sex with willing partners. He said any Internet exchanges that he had with Schweickert were fantasy. Lorenzo is awaiting trial in October. If convicted, he could face 20 years in prison on each count. Schweickert allegedly has admitted his involvement in the deaths and has identified where Galehouse's body parts were discarded.
Chicago police said that they will follow up on reports that Schweickert lived in the city's Lakeview neighborhood in recent years. At least two slayings involving gay men—Brad Winters and Kevin Clewer—remain unsolved on the North Side. ( An affidavit revealed that Schweickert once resided in the 500 block of West Aldine, which is about four blocks from Clewer's address. )
Clewer, 31, was found by his father stabbed to death in his apartment on a quiet block in the heart of gay Lakeview. Clewer, who lived with an unidentified male roommate at 3444 N. Elaine, sustained 42 stab wounds to his back. Winters's partially decomposed body was discovered in his Lincoln Park apartment after concerned colleagues notified authorities that he had failed to appear for work. Winters, 38, was found murdered in his apartment Aug. 19, 2003. Winters, who was the artistic director of the Terrapin Theater, was stabbed three times and strangled, according to the Cook County Medical Examiner's Office.
Police spokesman David Bayless told Windy City Times that the officers 'are aware of the case' and are looking to see if there are any possible links to Schweickert and 'any open homicides' in the city. Bayless added that the investigation could involve DNA analysis or inquiries of residents who might have associated with Schweickert.
