HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, Fla. (TCN) — A 74-year-old man has been sentenced to life in prison plus 15 years after being convicted of second-degree murder for killing a woman in 2024, then dismembering her and dumping her in a bay.
According to the Hillsborough County State Attorney’s Office, Robert Kessler killed 47-year-old Stephanie Overholt in 2021. Her family said she was very trusting and believed there was good in everyone, so she moved in with Kessler after he invited her to stay with him at his home when she fell on hard times, per the county attorney’s office. He dismembered her body with a saw and then dumped the remains in McKay Bay.
During the jury selection phase of the trial, Kessler reportedly told Judge Nick Nazaretian that he would plead guilty in exchange for a Philly cheesesteak. On Nov. 4, he was found guilty of second-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison, plus an additional 15 years for being found guilty of abuse of a human body, according to the county attorney’s office.
WFLA reports Nazaretian said the case was bizarre and compared Kessler to fictional serial killer Hannibal Lecter from the film “The Silence of the Lambs.”
Nazaretian said, “I didn’t appreciate that comical statement about that stupid cheesesteak. It was inappropriate and rude. This is a serious matter. If you want to go have a cheesesteak, good luck with that. You’re going to the Florida State Prison and I don’t think that’s gonna happen,” according to the state attorney’s office.
Following the sentencing, Overholt’s father told WFLA, “I’m going to start getting back to life. … I’m going to start moving on now that Mr. Kessler is behind bars for the rest of his life. That’s where he needs to be for what he’s done.”
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