TAMPA, Fla. — A 74-year-old man on trial for murder in Hillsborough County offered to plead guilty in exchange for a cheesesteak, fries and a soft drink. The judge refused.
Robert Kessler made the offer on Oct. 26 during jury selection, according to local reports. He told Circuit Judge Nick Nazaretian he would accept a life sentence if he were given a Philly cheesesteak with onions and mayonnaise, an order of fries and a 20-ounce Pepsi.
The judge said the request would be "wrong in a thousand ways" and declined to make food a condition of a plea.
The Charges..
Kessler is charged with first-degree premeditated murder and abuse of a dead body in the November 2021 death of Stephanie Crone-Overholts, 47, of Pennsylvania.
Prosecutors say Crone-Overholts had been staying at Kessler's home in Lutz when he stabbed her in the neck and then dismembered her body. They allege he disposed of her remains in McKay Bay. Kessler has pleaded not guilty and has not been convicted, and the allegations remain unproven. If a jury finds him guilty, he faces life in prison.
What Happened in Court
The cheesesteak request was the first of several changes from the defendant during the opening days of the trial.
Kessler, who is legally blind, initially chose to represent himself. He later asked the judge to reappoint his attorney, Maria Dunker, and the judge agreed. On Oct. 27, he asked to be excused from the courtroom for the trial. The judge granted that request, but said he would ask Kessler twice a day whether he wanted to return.
Judge Nazaretian also explained what an open plea means: a defendant pleads guilty without an agreed sentence, which in this case could mean "life in prison and be done with it," as the judge put it.
Testimony So Far
Testimony began Oct. 27. A juror was dismissed that day, and the judge denied two defense requests for a mistrial. In her opening statement, Dunker told jurors that DNA evidence cannot establish how a person died. A fisherman took the stand Oct. 28 and identified Kessler as the man he saw dumping containers into McKay Bay, according to 10 Tampa Bay News. Jurors were expected to hear from crime scene technicians on Oct. 29.
A defendant cannot trade a plea for a benefit like a meal. Courts require guilty pleas to be voluntary and free of that kind of inducement.
Why It Spread
Video of Kessler's offer has drawn more than a million views on social media, driven largely by the cheesesteak detail. Coverage of the trial itself has been more limited.
Crone-Overholts was staying with Kessler when she died nearly five years ago. As of Oct. 29, the trial was continuing and no verdict had been reached.