DOWNTOWN FORT MYERS, Fla. — An Army deserter turned double murder suspect connected to the killings of a couple in Estero was found guilty on all six counts on Monday evening.
Craig Lang was charged with:
- Conspiracy to Interfere with Commerce by Robbery
- Interference with Commerce by Robbery
- Conspiracy to Use, Carry, Brandish and Discharge a firearm
- Use or Carrying of a Firearm During and In Relations to a Crime of Violence (includes the murders of Serafin Lorenzo Jr. and Deana Lorenzo)
- Conspiracy to Murder and Main at a Place Outside the United States, namely Venezuela
- Violation of the Neutrality Act
Lang was accused of murdering a couple found in an Estero office park in 2018. Lang reportedly has ties to extreme right groups.
Fox 4 has covered this case extensively. According to the U.S. Attorney's Office, the couple in Estero were found dead from gunshot wounds on April 10, 2018 in the Galleria complex off Corkscrew Road. Investigators believe the couple traveled there from Brooksville to complete a firearm purchase from someone who listed them for sale on the website Armslist.
According to federal documents, Lang is an Army deserter who left the US to fight in Ukraine against pro-Russian forces back in 2015.
That’s where he met fellow Army deserter Alex Zwiefelhofer.
The two traveled the globe, from the battlefield of Europe to Africa, fighting in wars and skirmishes.
By 2018, needing money to fund more foreign fights, prosecutors say the pair came to an Estero parking lot looking to sell an arsenal of weapons.
Instead, investigators say the pair killed a couple from Brooksville, FL, and stole the $3,000 they had with them.
RELATED COVERAGE: Two charged in Estero double murder during arms purchase
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The next year, Lang was back in Ukraine where he joined what some have described as a fringe, right-wing extremist militia fighting against the Russians.
Lang has apparent ties to U.S. soldier Jarrett William Smith, who was arrested by the FBI for a plot to bomb a news network and allegedly targeting presidential candidate Beto O'Rourke.
According to ABC News, authorities said Lang was a "mentor" to Smith, and the pair have been in contact since 2016. Lang is facing other federal charges over alleged ties to the terrorist group al-Shabab in East Africa and groups fighting against the Venezuelan government.
ABC News says Lang and Zweifelhofer, who is also an Army veteran, met in Ukraine in 2017, where they both fought with the Right Sector. They later traveled to Kenya because they wanted to fight the al-Qaeda-linked group al-Shabab there, Zwiefelhofer allegedly told authorities. But when the pair then allegedly tried to enter South Sudan, they were stopped and sent back to the United States.
Lang is expected to be sentenced in March.
