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.
Robert Kessler appears in court on Nov. 4, 2026. (Court TV)
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.”
“My daughter was violently murdered, and her remains thrown away like garbage,” Crone-Overholts’ mother said in her victim impact statement. Addressing the defendant directly, she said, “Robert Kessler, you need to find God. You need to get down on your hands and knees and beg him to forgive you. And, in time, show remorse and maybe I can begin to forgive you, too.”
One of the victim’s sons spoke in court on Wednesday, asking that Kessler be sentenced to the most restrictive prison environment possible. “At 74 years old, he may not have many years left, but whatever time he does have should carry the full weight of the consequences of his actions,” he said.
When the judge turned to Kessler, he made his feelings clear:
Nazaretian: Mr. Kessler, good afternoon.
Kessler: How are you doing?
Nazaretian: A lot better than you are, OK. A hell of a lot better than you are.
Nazaretian accused Kessler of playing the “grandpa” card in convincing the victim to come back to her home. “And then you just decide to kill her in a horrible, horrible way,” the judge said. “But that wasn’t enough for you. You had to go full Hannibal Lecter and cut the body up in at least seven different pieces. That’s, like, movie-like. That’s, like, unheard of. Forty years in this system as a public defender, as a prosecutor, as a judge, I’ve never heard of this before.”
Nazaretian sentenced Kessler to life in prison, the maximum, for second-degree murder, plus a consecutive 15 years for abuse of a dead body. Before dismissing the defendant from the courtroom, Nazaretian addressed a comment Kessler had made before the trial began, when he offered to plead guilty in exchange for a cheesesteak, fries and a 20-ounce Pepsi. “Before you go to spend the rest of your life in the penitentiary, I didn’t appreciate that statement,” Nazaretian said. “That comical statement about that stupid cheesesteak. It was inappropriate and it was rude. This is a serious matter, all right? So you want to have a cheesesteak? Good luck with that, because you’re going to Florida State Prison. I don’t think that’s gonna happen.”
