After three decades of courtroom battles, a Buffalo-area man was found guilty Friday in the brutal 1993 murder of a nursing student, marking the end of his third trial in the same case.
Brian Scott Lorenz, now 56, faced conviction once again for the death of Deborah Meindl, a 33-year-old nursing student and mother who was fatally stabbed multiple times and strangled in her Tonawanda home. Meindl’s 10-year-old daughter discovered her mother’s body.
The case has seen extraordinary twists over the years. Lorenz and co-defendant James Pugh were initially found guilty in 1994, but a judge threw out their convictions in 2023. The reversal came after advanced DNA analysis failed to link either man to the crime scene or murder weapon, and after revelations that prosecutors had concealed potentially exonerating evidence.
The legal saga took another turn in December when prosecutors abandoned their case against Pugh entirely, citing challenges in presenting evidence and the loss of key witnesses after more than three decades. “Our inability to present the same evidence deemed admissible in the original trial and the unavailability of critical witnesses more than 30 years later” led to dropping charges against Pugh, prosecutors acknowledged.
Lorenz faced a different fate. While his second trial resulted in a hung jury last year, prosecutors pressed forward. Following a two-week proceeding, jurors quickly delivered guilty verdicts on both murder and burglary counts Friday.
Defense attorneys, who have spent years fighting for Lorenz’s exoneration, announced plans to challenge the verdict on appeal.
“It’s very, very scary,” defense lawyer Ilann M. Maazel told The New York Times. “I think innocence should matter. I think the truth should matter.”
Family members of the victim, including Meindl’s sister and youngest daughter, attended Friday’s proceedings. Following the verdict, they expressed gratitude to Erie County District Attorney Michael J. Keane.
“This outcome is not just a legal victory: It is a testament to the persistence of truth and the unwavering commitment of dedicated public servants tasked with the pursuit of justice,” Keane stated.
Authorities originally targeted Lorenz and Pugh based on the theory that Meindl died during a home invasion robbery. The case against them developed after Lorenz, while detained in Iowa on separate charges, admitted to the killing and implicated Pugh. Lorenz subsequently claimed his confession was fabricated.
