Home News Two AWOL Soldiers Joined Paramilitary In Ukraine. They Returned To Kill A...

Two AWOL Soldiers Joined Paramilitary In Ukraine. They Returned To Kill A Couple In Estero (Video)

couple
WINK News/Frame Grab

  The listing said, “For Sale: Lot of Guns,” and Serafin Lorenzo was interested.

The 53-year-old who went by Danny liked to buy expensive items and resell them for a profit, and the cache of guns he found on ARMSLIST.com offered the bargain he was looking for. There were four Glocks, a couple 9mm pistols and nine high-powered rifles. The Florida seller, a guy named Jeremy, wanted just $3,000 cash.

“Leaving the country soon,” Jeremy’s listing said. “Looking to sale all my guns as I can’t take them with me.”

Less than 24 hours after inquiring, Lorenzo and his 51-year-old wife, Deana, were on the road from Brooksfield, Fla., late on the night of April 9, 2018, to meet Jeremy at an address just off Corkscrew Road in Estero. At 10:44 p.m., Lorenzo texted: “I’m at the church.”

Faith Based Events

Minutes later, the Lorenzos were dead.

[Video from WINK News 

Police wouldn’t find Lorenzo and his wife in the church parking lot until the next morning. Next to Lorenzo’s body was a bill of sale for 15 firearms — and a cellphone that would send the FBI down a wild path stretching halfway around the world leading to the alleged perpetrators.

Starting with little more than the online gun listing and the texts to Lorenzo from a Walmart burner phone, authorities say they learned the gunmen were two ex-Army soldiers bent on joining right-wing paramilitary groups involved in armed conflicts worldwide. The gun listing was true in one respect: They were leaving the country — to go to Venezuela to fight the government with the resistance, prosecutors say. The guns were coming with them. They allegedly just wanted the Lorenzos’ $3,000 to fund the journey.

On Wednesday, federal prosecutors identified the ex-soldiers as Alex Zwiefelhofer, 22, and Craig Lang, 29, in an indictment charging them with a host of federal crimes tied to the double homicide in Estero. The 33-page complaint traces the soldiers’ zigzagging paramilitary campaigns across the world, starting in Ukraine and, in Lang’s case, finally to Venezuela, revealing how some military veterans have been drawn to extremist causes overseas.

[vc_btn title=”Continue reading” color=”primary” link=”url:https%3A%2F%2Fwww.washingtonpost.com%2Fnation%2F2019%2F09%2F27%2Fawol-soldiers-ukraine-kill-florida-couple%2F%3Fwpisrc%3Dnl_mix%26wpmm%3D1||target:%20_blank|”][vc_message message_box_style=”solid-icon” message_box_color=”blue”]WashingtonPost.com, excerpt posted on SouthFloridaReporter.com, Sept. 27, 2019

Video courtesy WINK TV News[/vc_message]


Disclaimer

The information contained in South Florida Reporter is for general information purposes only.
The South Florida Reporter assumes no responsibility for errors or omissions in the contents of the Service.
In no event shall the South Florida Reporter be liable for any special, direct, indirect, consequential, or incidental damages or any damages whatsoever, whether in an action of contract, negligence or other tort, arising out of or in connection with the use of the Service or the contents of the Service. The Company reserves the right to make additions, deletions, or modifications to the contents of the Service at any time without prior notice.
The Company does not warrant that the Service is free of viruses or other harmful components