TAMPA, Fla. (Court TV) — A judge called a killer’s crime “unheard of” as he sentenced the septuagenarian to life in prison for murdering and dismembering a woman whose body was found in a Florida bay.
A Florida jury deliberated for more than 11 hours before finding Robert Kessler, 74, guilty of second-degree murder and abuse of a dead body in the death of Stephanie Crone-Overholts, 47. Prosecutors said the victim had been staying with the defendant before her death, but that after an argument in the fall of 2021, Kessler stabbed her to death multiple times and then dismembered her body before dumping the parts into Tampa’s McKay Bay in November 2021.
Right after the verdict, Judge Nick Nazaretian moved to sentencing, taking a moment to address the victim’s family. “I want to thank you for being here, and I want to apologize for the system and how long this took,” Nazaretian told Crone-Overholts’ mother. “Today’s your day, and it’s your daughter’s day.”…