Judge Nick Nazaretian refused Robert Kessler's offer to plead guilty for a cheesesteak.

Monday's offer did not become a plea. After Judge Nick Nazaretian refused to trade food for an open plea, Kessler told the court to pick a jury, and on Tuesday he put Maria Dunker back on the case and walked out before openings. WTSP reported the judge dismissed a juror, denied two mistrial requests, and set testimony to resume at 9 a.m. Wednesday. The charges are still pending.

WFLA reported that jury selection was underway Monday in Tampa in the trial of 74-year-old Robert Kessler, and that the Hillsborough County State Attorney's Office said he had chosen to act as his own attorney. WFLA reported that during jury selection he told the judge he was interested in an open plea in exchange for a cheesesteak, fries and a 20-ounce Pepsi. WFLA reported the judge answered, "I've never, in my 40 years, almost 40 years, heard that request before. That's interesting," and denied it because it would be "wrong in a thousand ways." Oxygen reported he asked Hillsborough Circuit Judge Nick Nazaretian for a Philly cheesesteak with onions and mayonnaise, fries and a Pepsi in a 20-ounce cup. Oxygen reported Nazaretian said, "I've never—in my almost 40 years—ever heard that request before," and, "I can't obviously give food to people to enter a plea, that would be wrong in a thousand ways. But I could guarantee you could have lunch today." Court TV reported the same request as "a Philly cheesesteak, an order of fries and a 20-ounce Coke," and reported that Nazaretian called it "wrong in a thousand ways." WFLA and Oxygen reported Pepsi. Court TV reported Coke. People reported that Nazaretian told Kessler he could enter an open plea and get "life in prison and be done with it," and that Kessler then asked for the cheesesteak. Oxygen reported that Kessler later told the judge, "Don't want an open plea. Just pick the jury. And then I want this cheese sandwich. If I get the sandwich, then I can go for it, but I'm not going to get it." A refused offer is not a guilty plea.

WTSP reported Kessler is charged with first-degree premeditated murder and abuse of a dead body in the death of 47-year-old Stephanie Crone-Overholts, who had been staying at his home in Lutz before her death in November 2021. Court TV and Oxygen spell her surname the same way. People spells it Stephanie Crone-Overholt. WFLA's account of the indictment uses Stephanie Crone-Overholts. WFLA's Monday story described a 47-year-old Pennsylvania woman who was staying in his home and said her remains were scattered in McKay Bay. Court TV reported fishermen later found the remains in McKay Bay, and that she had moved into his Tampa home in the fall of 2021. Oxygen reported a criminal complaint placing the first discovery in McKay Bay on Nov. 11, 2021. Lutz and Tampa are the two place names in those accounts. WTSP and Oxygen reported he has pleaded not guilty. Oxygen reported that two days after a Nov. 22, 2021 interview he gave WFLA, he was arrested for second-degree murder and abuse of a corpse. WFLA's indictment story reported the arrest date as Nov. 24 and reported that a grand jury later indicted him for first-degree premeditated murder. The arrest counts and the counts now on trial are not the same words. WFLA reported that if he is convicted he faces life in prison. Court TV and Oxygen reported he is blind and uses a wheelchair. WTSP did not print either of those facts.

WTSP reported that on Tuesday morning, after one day representing himself, Kessler asked the judge to reappoint public defender Maria Dunker. Court TV reported he confirmed that choice and gave the case back to her. WTSP reported that before opening statements he said he did not want to be in the courtroom. WTSP reported the judge said, "You've changed your mind again," and, "It is a bad decision to do that. It doesn't look good. I'm just going to be straight with you," then asked, "Last chance, are you 1000 percent sure you don't want to be in here?" WTSP reported Kessler said, "Yes sir," and was allowed to leave. Court TV reported Nazaretian said he would tell the jurors they cannot use that absence to decide guilt or innocence, and that he warned Kessler he would not be there to help his lawyer. Court TV reported the example the judge gave: a witness might say a car was blue when it was red, and Dunker would not know to challenge it if Kessler was in the lockup. Court TV reported Kessler, sitting in a wheelchair, insisted, and a deputy rolled him out. Court TV reported the judge will ask him on Zoom twice a day whether he still wants to remain at the jail. WTSP reported the plan is to ask each morning and after lunch whether he wants to come back. Court TV also reported that when Tuesday's hearing began, Kessler looked and pointed the wrong way, and that Nazaretian said, "You know where I'm at. You can hear my voice," and, "I appreciate you think I'm over there, but you can hear my voice. I'm relatively loud." Leaving the courtroom is not a plea.

WTSP reported the defense asked twice Tuesday for a mistrial after a juror was said to have been sleeping and to have called the case a "no-brainer" in the jury room. WTSP reported that when the judge questioned her, she denied falling asleep, admitted the comment, and said she had already made up her mind. He dismissed her. WTSP reported two other jurors said they heard the remark and that it did not change their view, and that the judge denied both mistrial requests. WTSP reported he said, "I think the system worked as it's supposed to. There was an issue, it was reported." WTSP reported prosecutor Scott Harmon then gave an opening of about 90 minutes while Kessler was out of the room. Court TV reported Harmon told the jury Kessler met Crone-Overholts in a McDonald's parking lot about 10 days before her body was recovered, noticed a Pennsylvania plate, and offered her a place to stay. Both outlets reported that the opening described a killing and the disposal of her remains. They do not describe the wounds in the same words, and this account does not choose between them. WTSP reported Dunker told the jury, "DNA cannot tell you if someone was murdered. DNA cannot tell you how someone was murdered." Court TV reported she said there was little evidence of how and when Crone-Overholts died and nothing that showed Kessler was the person who killed her. WTSP reported the first witness was the victim's mother, Susan George, and that testimony is scheduled to resume at 9 a.m. Wednesday. The charges are still the charges. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.