Bobby Kent Murder Video

What does it take to convince a group of teenagers to kill one of their own? In the summer of 1993, in the manicured

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7 secondssuburbs of South Florida, seven so-called friends found out.

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12 secondsThese weren’t hardened criminals. They were high school students, surfers, and girlfriends living lives that seemed to

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19 secondsrevolve around beach days and backyard parties.

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23 secondsTheir target wasn’t a stranger. It was 20-year-old Bobby Kent, a charismatic and cruel figure at the very center of their world.

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32 secondsOne by one, they turned on him. Their shared resentment was like a small fire fanned by manipulation until it grew into a deadly inferno.

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42 secondsThis is the chilling story of how group think and peer pressure led seven young people to carry out a brutal premeditated murder.

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50 secondsAt the heart of this story are two young men who had been best friends since the third grade. Martin Marty Puchio and Bobby Kent.

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58 secondsTo outsiders, especially adults, Bobby was the neighborhood’s golden boy.

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1 minute, 3 secondsParents saw a charming, well-mannered kid you’d want your son to be friends with. But his peers, and Marty in

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1 minute, 10 secondsparticular, saw a much darker side, one they claimed was fueled by steroids, aggression, and an insatiable need for control.

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1 minute, 20 secondsMarty Puchio was by most accounts trapped in Bobby’s orbit like a small planet caught in the gravitational pole

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1 minute, 26 secondsof a larger unstable star. He was drawn to Bobby’s magnetic personality but constantly burned by its destructive

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1 minute, 34 secondsenergy. Their friendship was a toxic cocktail of loyalty and fear.

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1 minute, 39 secondsInto this volatile mix stepped 18-year-old Lisa Connelly, Marty’s new girlfriend. Lisa quickly grew tired of the whole Bobby had over Marty.

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1 minute, 49 secondsShe was desperate to build a future with him. A future she believed couldn’t exist as long as Bobby was in the picture. When she learned she was

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1 minute, 57 secondspregnant with Marty’s child, her desire to separate him from Bobby’s influence for good became an obsession.

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2 minutes, 3 secondsIt was Lisa who would become the architect of the group’s dark plan. The one who first gave voice to the idea that would become their shared goal.

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2 minutes, 12 secondsIn the minds of his killers, the case against Bobby Kent was built on a foundation of relentless abuse.

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2 minutes, 18 secondsThe stories that came out after the murder painted a grim picture.

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2 minutes, 23 secondsMarty Puchio claimed he was Bobby’s personal punching bag, subjected to regular, humiliating beatings. He said

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2 minutes, 30 secondsthe abuse was so bad he had once fled to live with relatives in New York, only to be drawn right back into the toxic friendship.

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2 minutes, 38 secondsThe grievances weren’t just Marty’s.

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2 minutes, 41 secondsLisa Connelly had tried to distract Bobby by setting him up with her 17-year-old friend, Alice Ali Willis.

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2 minutes, 47 secondsTheir relationship lasted only a few weeks before Ali ended it, claiming Bobby was abusive.

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2 minutes, 54 secondsThe group’s shared narrative was that Bobby Kent was a monster. The more they talked, the more their stories grew, like a snowball of rumors rolling

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3 minutes, 3 secondsdownhill, getting bigger and faster until it became an avalanche of hate.

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3 minutes, 7 secondsWith each retelling, a horrifying idea began to feel like the only solution. Bobby had to go.

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3 minutes, 14 secondsA shared enemy can be a powerful unifier. Lisa Connelly, determined to get rid of Bobby Kent, started putting a

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3 minutes, 22 secondsteam together. Ali Willis, fueled by her own claims of abuse, was a key conspirator.

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3 minutes, 29 secondsLisa manipulated Ali, who was living in another town, into returning by telling her that Bobby was planning to harm her and her baby if she didn’t come back.

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3 minutes, 38 secondsAli arrived with her new boyfriend, 17-year-old Donald Donnie Seemen, and their 18-year-old friend, Heather

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3 minutes, 45 secondsSwallers. The group was expanding. They sought out a self-proclaimed hitman, 20-year-old Derek Kaufman.

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3 minutes, 53 secondsFinally, Lisa’s 19-year-old cousin, Derek Trurko, was brought into the fold.

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4 minutesThis collection of seven young people, now bound by a common goal, fell into a dangerous psychological trap, group

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4 minutes, 7 secondsthink. Their secret meetings became an echo chamber where their own angry voices bounced off the walls, returning to them louder and more distorted each

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4 minutes, 16 secondstime. Isolated from any outside opinions, their shared hatred for Bobby warped their thinking.

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4 minutes, 22 secondsThe plot to murder Bobby Kent went from angry whispers to a detailed, if clumsy, plan. The first attempt was set for July 13th, 1993.

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4 minutes, 33 secondsThe idea was for Ali Willis to lure Bobby to a secluded spot where Lisa Connelly would shoot him. But the plan crumbled when some of them got scared and backed out.

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4 minutes, 44 secondsThey didn’t give up. They rescheduled for the next night, July 14th. This time, the lure was more elaborate. They

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4 minutes, 53 secondstold Bobby they were going to a remote construction site in Weston for a party and to race Ali’s Mustang. The plan involved two cars. The first carried

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5 minutes, 2 secondsAli, Donnie Cementic, and Heather Swallers along with the unsuspecting Bobby Kent. The second car secretly

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5 minutes, 10 secondsfollowed, carrying Marty Puchio, Lisa Connelly, Derek Furko, and the hitman Derek Kaufman.

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5 minutes, 17 secondsKaufman, who couldn’t get a gun, brought a baseball bat and a lead pipe instead.

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5 minutes, 22 secondsThey also brought knives. The stage was set for a deadly ambush. Every person had a role to play in the brutal act

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5 minutes, 30 secondsthey’d convinced themselves was their only way out.

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5 minutes, 34 secondsOn the night of July 14th, 1993, the seven conspirators set their plan in motion. Bobby Kent got into the car with

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5 minutes, 42 secondsAli, Donnie, and Heather, completely oblivious and thinking he was headed for a night of fun. They drove for about

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5 minutes, 49 secondshalf an hour to the desolate construction site. When they arrived, the second car pulled up and Bobby saw his best friend Marty and the others get out.

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6 minutesWhat happened next wasn’t a swift, clean act. It was a frenzied, prolonged, and savage attack. According to their

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6 minutes, 8 secondsconfessions, Donnie Semenic struck the first blow, stabbing Bobby in the back of the neck. As Bobby stumbled in shock,

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6 minutes, 16 secondsMarty Pooio, his lifelong friend, plunged a knife into his stomach. The attack devolved into a chaotic chase. As

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6 minutes, 24 secondsBobby stumbled in shock, Marty Pooio, his lifelong friend, plunged a knife into his stomach. The attack devolved

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6 minutes, 32 secondsinto a chaotic chase. Bobby fought for his life, but he was outnumbered. Marty stabbed him again and slit his throat.

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6 minutes, 41 secondsThe final fatal blow came from Derek Kaufman, who struck Bobby in the head with a baseball bat.

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6 minutes, 48 secondsThe autopsy later revealed the full brutality of the attack, multiple stab wounds to his heart, neck, and abdomen,

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6 minutes, 55 secondsand a fractured spine from the force of the bat.

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6 minutes, 59 secondsOnce Bobby was dead, four of them, Marty, Donnie, Kaufman, and Verko, dragged his body into a nearby canal,

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7 minutes, 8 secondshoping alligators would take care of the evidence. They tossed their weapons into the ocean and went home, their deadly pack sealed in blood.

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7 minutes, 17 secondsIf the group thought they had committed the perfect crime, that belief dissolved almost immediately.

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7 minutes, 22 secondsThe plan that seemed so foolproof inside their echo chamber was in reality a house of cards, collapsing at the first touch of real world pressure and panic.

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7 minutes, 33 secondsIn the days after the murder, their pact of silence crumbled, Marty Puchio made the first mistake,

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7 minutes, 40 secondssuspiciously calling Bobby’s house and raising the suspicions of Bobby’s father. But the real break in the case came from inside the group. Lisa

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7 minutes, 48 secondsConnelly confessed to her mother who then told her sister, the mother of Derek Jurko.

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7 minutes, 54 secondsThe two horrified mothers contacted an uncle with police connections. This led investigators straight to Derek Jurko,

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8 minutes, 1 secondwho in exchange for a deal confessed to everything.

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8 minutes, 6 secondsAs proof, Derek led police right to the spot where they had dumped Bobby’s body.

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8 minutes, 11 seconds4 days after the murder, authorities recovered Bobby Kent’s body from the canal. His wallet with his driver’s license still inside was in his pocket.

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8 minutes, 22 secondsThe confessions that followed were chillingly precise. The killer’s descriptions of the wounds matched the autopsy report exactly, creating an

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8 minutes, 30 secondsundeniable link between their words and the crime.

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8 minutes, 34 secondsThe trials of the seven conspirators ended with a wide range of sentences reflecting their different roles in the crime and their cooperation with the law.

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8 minutes, 43 secondsMarty Puchio was initially sentenced to death, but this was later commuted to life in prison with the possibility of parole.

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8 minutes, 51 secondsDerek Kaufman was sentenced to life. He is currently incarcerated at the Maran Correctional Institute.

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8 minutes, 59 secondsDonald Seanic was sentenced to life. He is currently incarcerated at the Okachobee Correctional Institute.

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9 minutes, 6 secondsDerek Verkco would plead guilty and would be sentenced to 11 years. He was released in 1999.

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9 minutes, 14 secondsHeather Swallers was sentenced to serve 7 years in prison. She would be released in 1998.

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9 minutes, 22 secondsAli Willis was sentenced to 17 years in prison. She would be released in 2001 after serving 6 years.

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9 minutes, 30 secondsLisa Connelly was initially sentenced to life in prison. However, on appeal, her sentence was reduced to 22 years.

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9 minutes, 37 secondsShe would serve 9 years in prison and was released in 2004.