Newly released video shows the moments Craig Lang, an accused double murderer turned self-described freedom fighter, was brought to the Lee County jail last month.
Surrounded by FBI agents, Lee County Sheriff’s deputies and officers with the Lee County Port Authority Police Department, Lang was shackled as he got out of a law enforcement SUV.
It’s the latest step in a journey that has taken six years and nearly six thousand miles.
“In this case, you have two victims who did not deserve to die. As an investigator it sticks in your craw, and you will not be satisfied until you bring that person to justice,” said Dr. Dave Thomas, a Criminology Professor at FGCU who is an expert on criminal investigations.
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.
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.
“I would dare say, in the back of his mind he was probably hoping to die over there. Because if he died there before he got arrested, then in his own mind he’s a hero,” Thomas said.
Lang goes to trial in October, he has pleaded not guilty.
Zwiefelhofer was convicted of the double murder back in March, he will be sentenced in August.
