Jury recommends death penalty for Florida man convicted of horrific killing

FLORIDA — A jury has recommended the death penalty for a Florida man convicted of sexual battery and murder of a Marathon woman.

Attorney General Ashley Moody said her Office of Statewide Prosecution (OSP) has secured a guilty conviction and unanimous vote recommending the death penalty against a Florida Keys man who committed sexual battery and murder.

According to a statement by Moody, Steven Wolf of the Florida Keys performed a gruesome sexual battery using a large object that resulted in blunt force trauma and killed a woman from Marathon, Florida.

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, 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,” said Moody.

“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. Reportedly, investigators soon found car parts around the body that belonged to Wolf’s van.

Authorities said they located the van abandoned in a Kmart parking lot. The investigation reportedly found that Wolf used a large object to penetrate the victim’s genitals, causing blunt force trauma, and strangled the woman before dumping the body.

Prosecutors secured a conviction against Wolf for first-degree murder and sexual battery.

The final decision on 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.

Assistant Statewide Prosecutors Cass and Christina Castillo prosecuted the case through an agreement with the State Attorney for the 16th Judicial Circuit.