MURDER DEFENDANT OFFERS TO PLEAD GUILTY FOR A CHEESESTEAK
Onions and mayonnaise on the sandwich. Fries. That was the full cheesesteak plea offer Robert Kessler, 74, made to a Tampa judge on October 26, 2026, as jury selection began in his murder trial.
Hillsborough Circuit Judge Nick Nazaretian had just told Kessler he could enter an open plea, take a life sentence and end the case without a trial. Kessler’s answer: “I’ll do that for a Philly cheesesteak, and an order of fries and a Pepsi.”
Asked to spell it out, Kessler specified onions and mayonnaise, fries and a 20-ounce drink. The drink is the fuzzy part. He first said Pepsi, and PEOPLE quoted him asking for “20 oz. of peppers.”
He said the swap would save the taxpayers a trial. The judge wasn’t buying. “I can’t obviously give food to people to enter a plea,” Nazaretian said, per The Times of India. He offered to make sure Kessler got lunch that day, though he did not promise that meal.
Kessler dropped it. “Don’t want to open plea. Just pick the jury. I want this cheese sandwich. If I get the sandwich then I could go for it, but I’m not going to get it.”
He is charged with first-degree murder and abuse of a dead body in the death of Stephanie Crone-Overholt, 47, of Pennsylvania. Fishermen found her dismembered remains in McKay Bay near Tampa in November 2021, the Tampa Bay Times reported.
An investigative affidavit alleges Crone-Overholt had stayed at a home shared by Kessler and his daughter shortly before she disappeared. The daughter told investigators Crone-Overholt asked for $200 to leave, the affidavit says. It also says at least three witnesses told investigators they saw a man matching Kessler’s description throw bags into the bay, and that investigators reportedly found blood in his home and vehicles that testing linked to her. The defense has challenged parts of the evidence, including a witness identification.
Kessler has been in custody since 2021. He first chose to represent himself with no formal legal training, and he has severe vision problems. The Times describes him as blind.
On October 27, 2026, he changed course and let a public defender back onto the case. IBTimes UK named her as Maria Dunker, while Yahoo News did not. Reports also say he asked not to be physically present in court. The judge warned that staying away could hurt his defense and said jurors would be told not to read guilt or innocence into it.
No verdict has been reported. First-degree murder carries a mandatory life sentence on conviction, and the trial was expected to last about 10 days.
