AG Moody's Statewide Prosecutors Secure Unanimous Death-Penalty Recommendation for Man Convicted of Gruesome Murder

TALLAHASSEE, Fla.—Attorney General Ashley Moody’s Office of Statewide Prosecution today secured a guilty conviction and unanimous vote recommending the death penalty against a Florida Keys man who committed sexual battery and murder. Steven Wolf performed a gruesome sexual battery using a large object that resulted in blunt force trauma and killed a Marathon woman. Due to several aggravating factors, including the heinous nature of the crime and a previous violent felony conviction of manslaughter 40 years prior, Wolf now faces the death penalty.

Attorney General Ashley Moody said, “We secured a unanimous death-penalty recommendation for a depraved killer, who gruesomely murdered a Florida woman. This case is so disturbing, and my heart breaks for the victim’s family. I am so thankful to the jury for sitting through this difficult trial, weighing the evidence presented by my Statewide Prosecutors and taking on the heavy responsibility of a case such as this.”

According to the investigation, conducted by the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office, local fishermen found a woman’s body in a remote area. Investigators soon found car parts around the body that belonged to Wolf’s van. Authorities located the van abandoned in a Kmart parking lot. The investigation uncovered that Wolf used a large object to penetrate the victim’s genitals, causing blunt force trauma, and strangled the woman before dumping the body.

Attorney General Moody’s Statewide Prosecutors secured a conviction against Wolf for first-degree murder and sexual battery. Wolf faces the death penalty, with a unanimous vote of the jury for recommendation.

Assistant Statewide Prosecutors Cass and Christina Castillo prosecuted the case through an agreement with the State Attorney for the 16th Judicial Circuit. The final decision whether to follow the unanimous recommendation of the jury will be made by the 16th Judicial Circuit Judge Mark H. Jones, who presided over the case.