The friends left him out in the open near the water. He begged for mercy and apologized for whatever he’d done wrong, but they killed him anyway.ĭerek Kaufman allegedly was the last person to assault Bobby, hitting him with an aluminum bat. As she distracted him, some or all of the conspirators came out of the shadows and stabbed and bludgeoned him. The rest of the brain trust consisted of Ali’s new boyfriend, Donnie Semenec, age 18, her friend Healther Swallers, 18, Lisa’s cousin, Derek Dzvirko, 19, as well as Derek Kaufman, a blue-eyed mullet-wearing 22-year-old claiming to be a Mafia contract killer who could offer up his expertise the kids believed him.Īlligators, really? On July 14, 1993, with a promise of a tryst, Ali invited Bobby Kent to a spot in the Everglades. Lisa may have been the mastermind behind the murder plan. Bobby liked to call Lisa “Shamu.” Bobby Kent’s body in the Everglades Meanwhile, Lisa resented the amount of time the two boys spent together and also the bullying Bobby doled out to both of them. They responded by beating up the poor gentleman. The film quality was too poor to sell, and their older friend refused to oblige when the two asked him to star in another video. At Bobby’s urging, the two of them took a stab at entrepreneurship by making a pornographic videotape of a middle-aged man they knew from the gym. Marty’s love-hate relationship with Bobby persisted. When they declined, he fled to New York to stay with relatives. Newspaper coverage of the crime from the Palm Beach PostĪt one point, Marty wanted to escape Bobby’s bullying so badly that he begged his parents to move. Although Marty, at 6-feet, was the tall one, Bobby always had the edge physically and also harbored a sadistic streak that he trained on Marty at times. Both young men had grown up in the upscale Pembroke Pines neighborhood and were bodybuilders. To her credit, Ali told Lisa that she was attractive and just needed a little attitude.Īt least one source (I can’t remember whether it was the book or the movie) alleged that Bobby had acquaintance-raped Lisa as well as Ali.Įven though Marty and Lisa had a serious relationship and were expecting a baby, he continued to feel dominated by Bobby Kent. Forensic Files and the book Bully portrayed Lisa as awkward and overweight with low self-esteem.
Happy couple. Lisa Connelly, 18 and a high school dropout, had fallen in love with Marty Puccio, and being his girlfriend pretty much took up all her bandwidth. Lisa Connelly and Marty Puccio in happy days Marty would later allege in court papers that Bobby had threatened to kill Ali and her child unless she resumed their relationship. “Payback” described her as a former girlfriend of Bobby’s and also said that he had raped her at some point in the relationship. Marty, 20, dropped out of school in 11th grade.Īli Willis, at 18, had already been married and given birth to a baby who her mother and father cared for. The Kents’ short, dark, handsome, and popular son did well at South Broward High School, attended community college, and had solid career ambitions.
Bobby Kent was born to Farah and Fred Kent, who had anglicized their surname after moving from Iran to the United States. More about those later and also some follow-up on the killers, but first here’s a recap of the episode along with information from internet research: The bizarre story made headlines nationally and was the subject of a mass-market paperback and a Hollywood movie.
They came up with a plot reminiscent of Julius Caesar, except with a cast of underachievers who probably didn’t care much about iambic pentameter. Marty and a group of associates, all from the Fort Lauderdale area, decided to end the abuse by killing Bobby. Farah and Fred Kent with their daughter, Laila Bobby occasionally beat up his best buddy since childhood, Marty Puccio, and even turned the poor lad into a revenue stream by coercing him to dance at a male strip club. But even the victim sounded like someone who’s hard to mourn. The episode details how seven young people from respectable families conspired to kill 20-year-old Bobby Kent. There’s another thing missing from “Payback” - a sympathetic character. Plus, watching the episode kind of felt like cheating on him. Peter Dean did an earnest job of it, but no one can replace the assuring voice of Peter Thomas. “Payback” is one of a handful of Forensic Files episodes narrated by someone other than Peter Thomas.
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