PA Native's Dismemberment: Man Charged In Chilling Crime

TAMPA, FL — Prosecutors with the Hillsborough State Attorney's Office obtained an indictment Thursday from a Hillsborough County grand jury charging Robert Kessler with first-degree murder in the death of an Erie, Pennsylvania native.

Kessler, 69, is accused of killing 47-year-old Stephanie Crone-Overholts, then dumping her dismembered body into a bay last month. Tampa police arrested Kessler for second-degree murder—acting with a "depraved mind" without regard for human life.

Working with Tampa police, the State Attorney's Office presented an indictment to the grand jury for the higher charge of first-degree, premeditated murder.

Fishermen discovered a leg floating in McKay Bay in Tampa on Nov. 11.

Detectives and police divers responded to the scene and recovered additional body parts. Police were able to identify Crone-Overholts by a tattoo found just beneath the lower right calf that had three hearts with the names Sean, Greg and Zach written on each heart.

Police also located a 2008 silver Hyundai Elantra with Pennsylvania tags photographed in the
area where the body parts were dumped.