Experts Confirm Detectives' Fears

By ELAINE SILVESTRINI esilvestrini@tampatrib.com

Published: Jan 27, 2006

TAMPA - His face was covered in duct tape and clear plastic, and his body was battered and bloody.

Investigators feared the unidentified man whose pictures were recovered from the computer of Steven Lorenzo was dead, another victim of Lorenzo's sadomasochistic fantasies.

Now, one of the nation's leading forensic experts confirms that the man in the photographs is very likely dead.

The Tampa Tribune and News Channel 8 showed the photos to Henry Lee, along with William Anderson, a forensic pathologist from Orlando. The experts, who are not affiliated with the official investigation, concluded the man, labeled "Karl" in computer files, is deceased.

"Within a 95 percent degree of medical certainty, this picture was taken when he was dead," Anderson said.

The findings came as no surprise to police.

"We believe that Steven Lorenzo is a violent and dangerous man who's capable of murder," Tampa police spokeswoman Laura McElroy said. "We're in the process of building our own murder case against Lorenzo with two victims, and we do think there is a possibility of other victims out there. And we are still looking for help from the public to learn more about any possible victims or to find out about any possible victims. If anyone has a loved one who they think has had contact with Lorenzo, we'd like to hear from them."

'Voodoo Science'

Lorenzo's attorney, Donald Harrison, scoffed at the experts' conclusions. "With all due respect to Dr. Lee, unless the guts are hanging out, I don't know of any evidence out there that would suggest you can tell from a photograph that someone is dead.

"If Henry Lee wants to give an opinion, good for Henry Lee ... I think that's voodoo science, as much as this DNA stuff is voodoo science. ... This whole idea of looking at a photograph and saying somebody's dead is BS."

Lee, who has solved numerous crimes, testified for the defense in the O.J. Simpson trial and is investigating the disappearance of a honeymooner aboard a cruise ship.

Lorenzo is scheduled to be sentenced today to up to 200 years in federal prison for giving a date-rape drug to nine men and then sexually torturing them. Two victims were killed, investigators say, in Lorenzo's quest to fulfill his sadomasochistic sexual fantasies. Lorenzo was also convicted in federal court of conspiring with another man, Scott Schweickert, to drug the two slain victims, Jason Galehouse and Michael Wachholtz. Schweickert faces a federal trial next month on similar charges.

A retired FBI profiler said the expert findings fit what is known about Lorenzo. "From everything that was presented in court, this guy presents as a psychopath and basically he has no conscience, and he exploits people for his benefit," Joe Navarro said. "We have to assume with psychopaths that there are always more victims."

Charles Rose, a Stetson Law School professor, said the findings could give Lorenzo a bargaining chip with prosecutors. Lorenzo, he said, could offer to tell them the identities of unknown victims in exchange for an agreement not to seek the death penalty.

Harrison said no such bargain will take place because Lorenzo has no information to offer. "If he had something to say, he would have said it," Harrison said. "He said, 'Donald, I can't tell you anything. I know nothing.' He's befuddled and confused ... He wants his day in court."

Although the Hillsborough State Attorney's Office has said it's pursuing possible murder charges against Lorenzo, spokeswoman Pam Bondi wouldn't comment Thursday on where the case stands.She would not comment on the experts' findings.

Harrison said the lack of state action suggests a weak case. "What does the state government know that is preventing them from going forward?" he said. "They know something we don't know."

Investigators found hundreds of thousands of images on Lorenzo's computer. Many were photographs showing men in various states of bondage, injury and consciousness, posed around Lorenzo's house.

Some were of Wachholtz's seemingly lifeless body shown within hours of his December 2003 disappearance. Hillsborough County Medical Examiner Jacqueline Lee, no relation to Henry Lee, testified in the federal trial that Wachholtz was dead in those photographs. The defense argued that Wachholtz was alive at that time and was seen in Ybor City by several witnesses.

Lorenzo told investigators he didn't know how the photographs got in his computer. He admitted they were taken in his house and that his hand is shown in one of them holding Wachholtz's foot.

'A Live Person Cannot Do That'

Anderson and Henry Lee agreed with the Hillsborough Medical Examiner's conclusion about Wachholtz. Viewing the Wachholtz photographs, Henry Lee particularly noted the positioning of Wachholtz in some, which showed him with his face and upper chest on the floor and the rest of his body curled upward behind him so that his feet are near the back of his head. Most people would be unable to breathe like that, Henry Lee said. "A live person cannot do that," he said.

Some photographs showed bondage sessions with men investigators were able to establish are still alive. But they feared that three more men in the photos could be dead.

All three sets were shown to Henry Lee and Anderson. The two experts felt that two sets of photos needed more study, and they said they will review them in more detail for the Tribune and News Channel 8.

One set of photos, labeled with the name "Karl," is dated July 27, 2003. They show a naked man bound with plastic ties and posed around Lorenzo's house in various states of injury. None of the pictures show his face. The only potentially identifying marks are two scars above the inside of his right ankle. The lower scar is elongated and white, while the upper one is smaller and round.

Some photos show his head wrapped in red duct tape with clear plastic over his mouth.

The two experts took particular note of an indentation in the man's leg where a bondage strap apparently had been removed. The indentation was not red or pink, which it would have been if the man was alive when it was made, the forensic experts said.

Anderson said the mark was "consistent with postmortem compression of skin." This contrasts with other injuries shown in apparently earlier photographs, where there is swelling and reddening near the straps. That's an indication, Andrews said, that the man was "alive or recently dead" when those photographs were taken.

THE MAN IN THE PHOTOS

• Caucasian with dark body hair and average weight.

• Two scars above the inside of his right ankle, one elongated and white and the other darker and round.

• Photos dated July 27, 2003.

• Photos do not show his face.