Victim's mother confronts confessed killer in court
TAMPA (FOX 13) - A murdered man's mother was finally able to face her son's killer in a Hillsborough County courtroom Wednesday, and she did not hold back.
Before victim statements were read, Scott Schweickert confessed to the murder and dismemberment of Jason Galehouse and Michael Wacholtz. He faced Hillsborough Circuit Judge Vivian Corvo as she read every sordid detail of the killings.
Judge Corvo: "Mr. Lorenzo and you bound Mr. Galehouse's legs to the bed with restraints?"
Schweickert: "Yes."
Judge Corvo: "Steven Lorenzo and you dismembered Mr. Galehouse's body with an electric saw in Lorenzo's garage?"
Schweickert: "Yes."
It has been 14 years since the killings. Prosecutors said they may also ask Schweickert to turn on his co-defendant, Steven Lorenzo, and blame the murders on him.
During Schweickert's admittance of guilt, Jason Galehouse's mom, Pamela Williams stood just feet away.
"Oh yes, I knew what I was going to sa.y I had it well rehearsed, " Williams told FOX 13 News after the proceedings.
It was a moment 14 years in the making and she finally had her say.
Facing the defendant, she said, "Schweickert, take a good look at this picture," holding up a photo of her son. "I look at it every single day. I don't even have a grave, a body or a tombstone. I have the city dump, my son ground up like hamburger meat in the dirt, so I hope you're satisfied, because I hope you rot in hell."
Still, the plea deal Schweickert struck in exchange for his confession was not the outcome Williams hoped for.
The deal takes the death penalty off the table.
"I'm not too happy with the justice system... it stinks," Williams said.
It's a deal defense attorney Bryon Hileman said he has been working on for months. Despite 200 murder cases under his belt, this is one he said gets to him.
"All the facts, taken together, make it one of the most horrible cases I've ever dealt with," Hileman said.
Soon, it could be Lorenzo in the same court room facing the same angry, heartbroken mother.
"Now I'm waiting for his buddy to get back here because I'm saving something special for him," quipped Williams.