Murder of Bobby Kent

Bobby Kent (May 12, 1973 – July 15, 1993) was an American who was murdered by seven others, including his best friend, Martin Joseph "Marty" Puccio, Jr. (born March 21, 1973), in Hollywood in South Florida. Kent attended South Broward High School in Hollywood, Florida.

According to Tim Donnelley, who tried all the conspirators for his murder, one attorney described Kent as "very Eddie Haskell like. Adults saw him one way (polite and charming) while the kids saw him a completely different way."

Marty Puccio was born in Brooklyn, New York and raised in Hollywood, Florida. He is an Italian-American and was raised Roman Catholic. Kent and Puccio had known each other since third grade, had lived on the same block in Hollywood in Broward County since that time, and were good friends as adults. Bad blood, however, existed between the two. Puccio felt "ill-will and hatred" towards Kent because he would bully and pummel Puccio. Both sets of parents were wary of the friendship as well. Puccio's parents, Martin Sr. and Veronica, were cautious because Marty often returned from being with Kent with bruises or bleeding. Fred Kent thought of Puccio as a wayward slacker who had no future (Puccio was a high school dropout) and felt the friendship with his son would destroy the future he was helping him build. Avid body builders, both boys used steroids, which, in Kent's case, according to testimonial accounts, significantly contributed to his erratic, aggressive behavior.

Kent and Puccio had experimented with making homosexual porn movies, hoping to sell them to local shops. Neither Kent nor Puccio actually participated in these movies, but rather allegedly directed them and coaxed Harry Suiter, a Florida man in his early 40s, to perform on camera. Kent tried to peddle a movie, entitled Rough Boys, to porn shops across South Florida. None took him up on the offer, however, due to the poor audio and video quality as well as the lack of any sexual activities in the film beyond Suiter dancing nude and playing with a dildo.^[1]

Murder

Toward the beginning of 1993 Martin (Marty) Puccio (aged 20) began dating Lisa Connelly (aged 18). Being frustrated by how much time her boyfriend spent with Bobby Kent, Lisa tried to distract Kent from Puccio by setting up her friend Alice (Ali) Willis (aged 17) with Kent. Kent and Ali dated a few weeks but Kent was abusive toward Ali and she cut off the relationship. In June, Puccio confided to Lisa that Kent had been abusive to him quite often over the years. Lisa tried to convince him to cut off his friendship, but Marty did not seem able to do that. By that time, Lisa knew she was pregnant by Puccio and was determined that Kent was not going to get in her way of a permanent relationship with Puccio.

Allegedly, Lisa decided that Kent needed to be eliminated permanently and started talking to Marty and other friends about murdering Bobby. On Tuesday, July 13, 1993, Lisa called Ali and told her that "Bobby Kent was planning to come to Palm Bay (where Ali was living) to murder her and smother her baby (by a previous relationship) unless she returned to Broward County to date him again." Ali claimed Lisa asked her to come to her house to discuss murdering Bobby Kent. Ali went to Lisa's house and brought two friends, her current boyfriend, Donald (Donny) Semenec (aged 17), and Heather Swallers (aged 18). Lisa had previously contacted a self-proclaimed "hit man," named Derek Kaufman, who had been recommended by some friends. When Ali, Donny and Heather arrived, they all went to Kaufman's home. They told him they wanted him to get a gun so they could kill Kent that night, but Kaufman told them he could not get a gun that fast. The four went back to Lisa's house and were joined by Lisa's cousin, Derek Dzvirko. Puccio apparently was not a part of these meetings on the 13th.

On July 14 around 11:30p.m. the six joined together at Marty's house and made their plans. They had a lead pipe, two knives and a baseball bat. Marty had asked Bobby Kent to join them which he did around 11:45p.m. All together they headed out to a construction site. Apparently Kent thought he might be able to hook up with his former girlfriend, Ali. As soon as they got there Ali, in accordance with the plan, took Bobby off to a secluded spot where they were talking. Heather Swallers joined them there and while she and Ali distracted Bobby, Donny Semenec came up and stabbed Bobby in the neck with a knife. Bobby yelled out, "Marty, whatever I've done to make you mad, I'm sorry." Then he asked for Marty's help. Instead Marty stuck a knife in Bobby's stomach. Derek Kaufman then approached and hit Bobby with the baseball bat, which was the final blow. After this was all done Derek Dzvirko helped dump the body. Lisa was apparently not involved in the actual murder.

Eventually Martin Puccio was convicted and sentenced to execution but that sentence was reduced in 1997 to life in prison.^[2] Donny Semenec was given a life sentence, and Derek Kaufman was given life plus 30 years. Lisa was convicted and given life in prison but that sentence was reduced to 22 years. She gave birth to her and Marty's child during her incarceration. She was released in 2004. Alice Willis was convicted and given a 17 year sentence. She was released in 2001. Derek Dzvirko served 6 years in state prison. Heather Swallers served 5 years and was released on parole in 1998.

Incarceration

Martin Puccio, Florida Department of Corrections (FDOC) #963022, was received by FDOC on August 3, 1995.^[3] Originally he was on death row. In 1997 the Supreme Court of Florida ruled that Puccio should not be executed, so his death sentence was overturned and instead he was sentenced to life in prison, with parole eligibility occurring in 25 years.^[4] At the time, Florida still had parole for capital crimes. As of 1995, parole has been abolished in Florida. As of 2011 Puccio is located at the Desoto Annex.^[3]

Donald Semenec, FDOC #963020, was received on June 6, 1995. As of 2011 he resides in the Lake Correctional Institution, located in the unincorporated portion of Lake County, Florida.^[5][6] Derek Kaufman, FDOC#894391, was received by FDOC on June 14, 1995. As of 2011 he resides in the Mayo Correctional Institution.^[7][8] Alice Willis, FDOC #963026, entered FDOC custody on May 31, 1995 and was released from secure custody on September 16, 2001; as of 2011 she is under community supervision.^[9]

Lisa Connelly, FDOC #963025, entered FDOC custody on July 26, 1995 and was released from state custody on February 3, 2004.^[10] Derek Dzvirko, FDOC #960096, entered FDOC custody on May 17, 1995 and exited custody on October 1, 1999.^[11] Heather Swallers, FDOC #162525, was received on May 17, 1995 and was released on February 14, 1998.^[12]

Book and movie

The murder resulted in a best selling true crime book in 1998, Bully: A True Story of High School Revenge (ISBN 0-380-72333-6) written by Jim Schutze. The book was adapted by Zachary Long (a pseudonym used by David McKenna after he demanded his name be removed from the film^[13]) and Roger Pullis into the 2001 film, Bully. The story was also covered during an episode of the A&E series American Justice.

In the film, Puccio was portrayed by Brad Renfro, Kent was portrayed by Nick Stahl, Willis was portrayed by Bijou Phillips, Connelly was portrayed by Rachel Miner, Semenec was portrayed by Michael Pitt, Swallers was portrayed by Kelli Garner, Dzvirko was portrayed by Daniel Franzese, and Kaufman was portrayed by Leo Fitzpatrick.^[14]

References

1. ^ Schutze, Jim. Bully. HarperCollinsPublishers. 1997. 52-58, 61-62, 77, 104.
2. ^ MARTIN PUCCIO, Appellant, vs STATE OF FLORIDA, Appellee. (Supreme Court of Florida November 20, 1997). Text
3. ^ ^{a b} "Puccio, Martin." Florida Department of Corrections. Retrieved on August 31, 2010.
4. ^ "A REPRIEVE FROM DEATH ROW SENTENCE REDUCED IN BOBBY KENT SLAYING IN WESTON." Miami Herald. November 21, 1997. 1A Front. Retrieved on August 31, 2010.
5. ^ "Semenec, Donald." Florida Department of Corrections. Retrieved on August 31, 2010.
6. ^ Lake Correctional Institution
7. ^ "Kaufman, Derek." Florida Department of Corrections. Retrieved on August 31, 2010.
8. ^ Mayo Correctional Institution
9. ^ "Willis, Alice." Florida Department of Corrections. Retrieved on August 31, 2010.
10. ^ "Connelly, Lisa." Florida Department of Corrections. Retrieved on August 31, 2010.
11. ^ "Dzvirko, Derek." Florida Department of Corrections. Retrieved on August 31, 2010.
12. ^ "Swallers, Heather." Florida Department of Corrections. Retrieved on August 31, 2010.
13. ^ "Raffo On 'moon,' Mckenna Off 'bully'" from The Hollywood Reporter, Friday, July 13 2001. Accessed September 22, 2008
14. ^ Hart, Hugh. "A Killing Time". LA Times. http://articles.latimes.com/2001/jul/12/entertainment/ca-21459. 

External links

	Miami portal
	Crime portal
	Biography portal

• Bobby Kent
• Decision on Appeal leading to vacating the Death Penalty.