A North Carolina man who was kicked out of the US military and then flew to Ukraine to become a hero mercenary in its war against Russian-backed insurgents is wanted for the murder of a Florida couple in April 2018.
The United States has formally requested that Ukraine extradite Craig Lang, 29, so that he could face trial in Florida for his role in the murders of Serafin ‘Danny’ Lorenzo Jr, 53, and Deana K. Lorenzo, 50.
The couple was found dead in a parking lot near the Galleria plaza in Estero, Florida, in April of last year.
Danny, 53, had been shot seven times and his wife Deana, 51, had eleven bullet wounds, court documents revealed at the time.
Two former American GIs, Alex Zwiefelhofer, 22, and Lang are accused of robbing and murdering the couple in order to get money to travel to Venezuela.
Danny and Deana had traveled to Lee County in order to buy guns from the soldiers after responding to an online advertisement from a man ‘named Jeremy’, a federal indictment said.
The couple had withdrawn $3,000 in cash for the purchase of four Glocks, two 9mm pistols and nine high-powered rifles.
The United States is seeking the extradition of Craig Lang, 29, a former US Army soldier, who is currently under house arrest in Ukraine
It is believed the soldiers then lured Danny and Deana to the Galleria parking lot, where they were robbed and killed.
The pair, who had both been discharged from the military, hoped to ‘participate in an armed conflict against the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela’, a federal criminal complaint revealed.
They allegedly wanted the $3,000 in order to fund their journey, and had every intention of taking the guns with them.
Authorities found Danny’s cell phone at the scene. It reportedly showed recent text messages with a person who claimed to want to sell him a firearm.
The text message was traced to a Walmart burner SIM card used by Zwiefelhofer, according to investigators.
A search of Zwiefelhofer’s Google and Facebook histories showed he was traveling with Lang in Miami, according to court documents.
Lang is wanted for his alleged role in the April 2018 killings of Serafin ‘Danny’ Lorenzo Jr (left), 53, and Deana K. Lorenzo (right), 50, of Estero, Florida
During that time, he searched phrases like ‘Classified Miami Handguns,’ ‘Hotwire Boat Ignition Switch,’ and ‘How to Smuggle Myself to South America.’
An associated of Lang’s told investigators that Lang said he ‘gunned down some people in Miami’ with ‘some guy who is from Wisconsin’ after they ‘unloaded both of their clips into the “dude’s” red truck,’ according to the criminal complaint.
Zwiefelhofer and Lang had reportedly been previously detained by Kenyan authorities after they tried to enter South Sudan in 2017.
When interviewed by a Customs and Border Protection officer, Lang said he the pair fought with the ‘Right Sector’ – a Ukrainian nationalist paramilitary movement.
Zwiefelhofer made his initial appearance in Madison, Wisconsin, and Lang has been held in custody in Ukraine.
The FBI is now hoping to to extradite both men back to Florida.
Zwiefelhofer, who is the son of the chief of police in Bloomer, Wisconsin, has pleaded not guilty.
But it might be a while before Lang is made to answer to the charges in an American court.
The Ukrainian government wants the Department of Justice in Washington, DC, to promise not to pursue the death penalty against Lang if he is extradited, according to NBC News.
Ukraine does not have an extradition treaty with the United States.
It is not uncommon for countries to condition extradition on a pledge not to pursue the death penalty.
Lang is currently under house arrest in the eastern European country.
Lang’s future is further clouded by the fact that while the US government says he is a murderer, the formerly AWOL soldier is considered a hero in Ukraine.
‘We know that in the US, he is very negative person in mass media,’ his attorney, Dmitry Morgun, told NBC News.
Alex Zwiefelhofer, 22, another former Army soldier who went AWOL, is alleged to have helped Lang kill the couple in Florida in April of last year. He has pleaded not guilty
‘In Ukraine, he is not. In Ukraine, he was a hero. He defends our interests and our country.’
A prolonged fight over Lang’s status also threatens to upset relations with Ukraine, which are already fraught given the country’s role in President Trump’s impeachment.
DailyMail.com has reached out to the Justice Department and the State Department for comment on the Lang matter.
Lang enlisted in the US Army when he was 18 years old. During his stint in the military, he served tours of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan.
When he was 24 years old, he was discharged from the Army after he went AWOL.
Lang allegedly told his commander that he wanted to murder his wife. So he drove from Texas to North Carolina and took his military equipment with him.
The next spring, Lang flew to Ukraine to join a paramilitary militia – the Right Sector.
The Right Sector is a Ukrainian nationalist outfit that has attracted European and American right-wingers in their five-year-old armed campaign to remove Russian-backed separatists from the eastern part of the country.
In Ukraine, Lang met up with Zwiefelhofer, who also deserted the US Army to become a foreign fighter.
Zwiefelhofer traveled first to France and then to Ukraine.
Lang also jointed another anti-Russia militia, the Georgian Legion, which has been known to fight alongside the Ukrainian military.
Authorities say that in 2017, both Lang and Zwiefelhofer left the Right Sector and traveled to South Sudan, where they hoped to fight the Islamist group al-Shabbab, an al-Qaeda-affiliated outfit based in East Africa.
But officials in Sudan did not allow them to enter the country. They were sent back to Kenya to obtain proper visas.
Shortly afterward, they were deported by Kenya.
Lang’s passport was canceled because prosecutors say he failed to pay child support.
Zwiefelhofer, meanwhile, was arrested and booked into jail upon landing in Charlotte.
Authorities say they found child pornography on his cell phone. He was released on bond and then fled the state.
Lang has applied for asylum in Ukraine, where he is regarded as a national hero for helping a nationalist militia fight Russian-backed separatists in the eastern part of the country
Early last year, Lang and Zwiefelhofer chatted online about possibly traveling to Venezuela to fight against the government.
They allegedly planned to travel to Florida and steal a yacht, which they would then use to smuggle guns to ‘South America or Ukraine.’
Prosecutors said in order to get the money they needed to go to South America, they robbed and killed the Lorenzo couple.
A month after the killing, authorities arrested Zwiefelhofer after he was allegedly caught lying on a gun purchasing form.
He told investigators that he left Miami after he and Lang ran out of money, though he denied killing the couple in Estero.
Lang has many admirers in Ukraine, a nation that is thankful to him for helping defend the country against its enemy, Russia.
He has used his status in Ukraine to get public support for his request for asylum.
In his application for asylum, he cited President Trump, who ‘has very close ties and a relationship with Vladimir Putin.’
Lang also accused Trump of working ‘at the request of the Russian government’ to target foreigners fighting in Ukraine.
Lang’s asylum claim and the lingering uncertainy over the death penalty issue means that his case could likely take years to resolve.