TAMPA, Fla. — A Hillsborough County judge has accepted a guilty plea from the man charged in a notorious Tampa double murder. 

Hillsborough Circuit Judge Christopher Sabella has accepted a guilty plea from Steven Lorenzo, who has said he wanted to plead guilty and be sentenced to death. The penalty phase or sentencing will happen on Feb. 6.

Lorenzo had long denied killing Jason Galehouse and Michael Wachholtz inside of his Seminole Heights home in 2003. The case has gripped Tampa’s LGBTQ community as it's played out over nearly two decades.

But now, in a handwritten note, Lorenzo wrote that he wanted to withdraw his not-guilty pleas and be sentenced him to death. He told Sabella he wanted to change his plea because he believes the end result will be the same, regardless of a trial.

What You Need To Know

  • Steven Lorenzo has fought murder charges for years and says he now wants to plead guilty

  •  Lorenzo asked judge to sentence him to death

  •  Judge accepts plea request, Penalty phase to begin Feb. 6

  • Jason Galehouse and Michael Wachholtz were murdered in 2003

Lorenzo is representing himself and has declined to have an appointed attorney.

Galehouse’s longtime friend, Tyler Butler, says he’s blown away by this sudden change but isn’t confident that Lorenzo will follow through during a plea hearing set for Tuesday at 9 a.m.

“I mean 19 years, why all of a sudden now?” Butler said.

Tampa Pride president Carrie West says he feels this is just another way for Lorenzo to stay in the spotlight. 

“Even though he says he’s guilty and he wants to go for the death penalty, nothing of that matters," he said. "We have to still go through the whole process which we could have done 18 years ago, 19 years ago, and everything been positioned. This community has been disrupted by his antics.”