Bobby Kent Murder Case: Who Killed Him and Why?

Bobby Kent Murder

Bobby Kent Murder: How Did Bobby Kent Die? Who Killed Bobby Kent? – Seven teenagers hatched a plan to murder Bobby Kent in 1993 inside a Pizza Hut in Florida and never looked back. Twenty-year-old Bobby Kent was brutally murdered in 1993 by seven teenagers from Broward County, Florida, who had lured him into the Everglades. What possible motive could there be for such a horrible killing? It undoubtedly appeared to be the most straightforward answer to a more complicated issue in the youngsters’ lives.

People Magazine Presents: Crimes of the 90s 1993: Murder Pact,” a program on Investigation Discovery, details how the authorities identified the seven people accountable for Bobby’s murder. So, if you’re also interested in learning more, we can help.

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who was Bobby Kent
Bobby Kent

Who Was Bobby Kent and How Did He Die?

Bobby Kent (born May 12, 1973), an Iranian-American, was murdered by seven people, including his best friend, Martin Joseph “Marty” Puccio, Jr., (born March 21, 1973), in Florida’s Weston.

Bobby Kent, a South Broward High School student in the Hollywood, Florida suburb of South Florida, is the son of Iranian immigrants, Fred and Farah Kent (previously known by the last name Khayam). Tim Donnelly, who prosecuted all the participants in this crime, claimed that one lawyer described Kent as “similar to Eddie Haskell. The neighbourhood parents adored him, but the kids had a different opinion of him.”

Italian-American Marty Puccio was brought up as a Catholic. Since the third grade, Kent and Puccio had been close friends and had shared a home on the same block in Hollywood, Florida (Broward County). But there was ill will between the two. Puccio had “hate and ill will” towards Kent because of the way that Kent had treated him.

Both sets of parents were wary of friendship as well. Martin Sr. and Veronica Puccio were concerned because Marty often returned with blood or bruises from Kent. Due to Puccio’s high school dropout status, Fred Kent perceived him as a wayward loser with no future, and he believed their connection would jeopardize the future he was working to create for his son.

Both guys were regular gym attendees and rumored to utilize steroids, which in Kent’s case, per witness testimony, greatly influenced his irrational, aggressive conduct. Making gay pornographic films was an experiment Kent and Puccio undertook, intending to sell them to nearby businesses. In fact, neither Kent nor Puccio took part in making these pictures; instead, they directed them and hired a Florida man in his 40s to appear in front of the camera.

Kent attempted to promote the Rough movie Boys to South Florida’s pornographic businesses. Unfortunately, none of them accepted his invitation because the audio and video were of low quality and the only sexual content was the man dancing while naked and toying with a dildo. 

Bobby abruptly disappeared in the middle of July 1993, and nobody knows what transpired. Then, according to the program, four weeks after Bobby vanished, the police discovered Bobby’s body at a lake in Weston, Florida, thanks to a tip. The 20-year-old had numerous stab wounds on his body and had a sad fate.

According to the medical examiner who performed the autopsy, he was stabbed and cut at least twelve times, and his throat was slashed. Bobby also sustained a head injury from blunt force trauma.

who killed Bobby Kent

Who Killed Bobby Kent and Why?

When the police first approached Martin, he insisted he didn’t know what had happened to Bobby. According to the program, he said that on the evening of his disappearance, on July 15, 1993, his friend had left for a date with a different girl and never returned. After investigating a few of Bobby’s other buddies, the police concluded there was more going on than initially appeared.

Martin’s girlfriend at the time, Lisa Connelly, believed Bobby was a bully who mistreated Martin. Furthermore, Lisa’s friends Alice Willis and Bobby were once romantically involved. Additionally, she had complained about how poorly Bobby treated her and said that he had raped her the day before he passed away. The friend circle became the target of suspicion as a result. Lisa’s cousin, Derek Dzvirko, eventually informed the police about what had transpired.

murder of Bobby Kent

According to the investigation, Lisa and Alice started discussing killing Bobby because of how he was acting towards the other group members. Additionally, Donald Semenec, who was then dating Alice, and Martin became involved. According to the authorities, Lisa planned everything, and Alice joined later. The two individuals who eventually joined the organization were Heather Swallers and self-described hitwoman Derek Kaufman.

The police believed that the initial aim was to lure Bobby to a Weston construction site where he would be shot. That, however, never transpired. Instead, they invited Bobby to the same location on July 15, 1993, under the guise of drag racing. Donald then stabbed Bobby in the throat before Martin began the savage assault as Alice kept him preoccupied. Kaufman finally used an aluminum baseball bat to strike Bobby. Later, they relocated him to the lake and left him there.

Martin, Donald, and Kaufman
From left, Martin, Donald, and Kaufman

Where Are Bobby Kent’s Killers Today?

Martin later testified that Bobby would hit him without cause and that he no longer wanted to be his friend. Martin was ultimately found guilty of first-degree murder and murder conspiracy. Originally facing the death penalty, his sentence was commuted to life in prison in March 1998. However, according to prison records, Martin, who is now 49 years old, is still detained at the South Florida Reception Center in Doral, Miami-Dade County.

Donald, who was 19 years old at the time, was found guilty of second-degree murder and given a life term in prison in May 1995. He is completing his term at the Gulf Correctional Institution in Wewahitchka, Florida. First-degree murder and murder conspiracy were found to have been committed by Kaufman. He was given a life sentence in prison in June 1995 and is now being held at the Tomoka Correctional Institution in Daytona Beach, Florida.

Lisa and Alice
Lisa and Alice
Dzvirko and Heather
Dzvirko and Heather

After being found guilty of second-degree murder, 20-year-old Lisa Connelly was given a life term in prison in May 1995. However, an appeals court overruled it and gave her a 22-year term. She reportedly resides in Pennsylvania with her husband and son and works as an optometrist. She served 11 of them. She also had a child with Martin in addition to that. After being found guilty of second-degree murder, Alice received a sentence of 17 years in prison, of which she has already served eight.

In addition to Heather, Dzvirko also admitted to participating in the crime and received sentences of 11 and 7 years, respectively. Dzvirko, a former truck driver who now resides in Pembroke Pines, Florida, is devoted to raising his daughter. In 2013, Heather and her two children resided in Georgia after serving a five-year term.

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