Martin Joseph Puccio

Case record: Martin Joseph Puccio, Jr.

Status and identity

Martin Joseph Puccio, Jr. was usually called Marty and was born March 21, 1973. He was serving a life sentence for murder.

Timeline

• July 15, 1993 — Puccio, along with six others, killed Bobby Kent in what is now Weston, Florida.
• February 14, 1998 — Heather Swallers was released.
• October 1, 1999 — Derek Dzvirko was released.
• September 16, 2001 — Alice Slay was released on parole and was under community supervision for 40 years.
• July 27, 1995 — Puccio was sentenced to life in prison.
• February 3, 2004 — Lisa Connelly was released on parole.

Background

Puccio was born in Brooklyn, New York and was raised in Hollywood, Florida. He was an Italian-American and was raised Roman Catholic. Puccio and Kent had been friends since third grade and had lived on the same block in Hollywood.

Bad blood existed between Puccio and Bobby Kent. Puccio felt "ill-will and hatred" towards Kent because Kent would bully and pummel him.

Puccio’s parents, Martin Sr. and Veronica, were cautious because Puccio often returned from being with Kent with bruises or bleeding. Fred Kent thought of Puccio as a wayward slacker who had no future, and he felt the friendship with his son would destroy the future Fred was helping him build. Puccio was a high school dropout.

Both boys were avid steroid users, which contributed to Kent's erratic, aggressive behavior, according to testimonial accounts.

Kent and Puccio had also delved into making homosexual porn movies with the intent to sell them to local shops to earn extra money. Neither Kent nor Puccio participated in these movies, but rather allegedly directed them and either coaxed or forced Harry Suiter, a Florida man in his early 40s, to perform on camera. Kent tried to peddle the movie, entitled Rough Boys, to porn shops across South Florida, but none took him up on the offer due to poor audio and video quality and a lack of sexual activities in the film beyond Suiter dancing nude and playing with a dildo.

The offence

Bobby Kent was murdered by seven others, including Puccio.

Puccio’s involvement took place during the killing of Bobby Kent in Weston, Florida. During the murder, Kent pleaded and begged Puccio for mercy, telling his friend "I'm sorry! Marty, whatever I did, I'm sorry!", but Puccio continued. While Kent was down, Puccio cut his throat and hit his head against the ground so hard he fractured a vertebra in Kent's neck. Kaufman delivered the final blow with a weighted baseball bat to the head.

Kent’s body was then dumped into a canal. There were conflicting reports over who dumped the body: either Kaufman and Derek Dzvirko or Kaufman and Puccio.

Investigation and detection

Dzvirko led Detective Frank Illaraza of the Broward County Sheriff’s Office to Kent’s body a few days later.

Trial

The extent of Puccio's culpability in the death of Kent was vehemently disputed at the time of later discussion.

The jury recommended life for Derek Kaufman, who was sentenced to life and 30 years imprisonment.

Sentencing

Puccio was sentenced to life in prison on July 27, 1995.

Other co-perpetrators and sentencing outcomes

The co-perpetrators were convicted and sentenced as follows:

• Heather Swallers — second-degree murder and conspiracy (seven years imprisonment); released February 14, 1998.
• Derek Dzvirko — second-degree murder and conspiracy (11 years imprisonment); released October 1, 1999.
• Alice Slay — second-degree murder and conspiracy (40 years imprisonment, commuted on appeal to 17 years in prison); released on parole on September 16, 2001 and was currently under community supervision for 40 years.
• Donald Semenec (aka Day) — second-degree murder and conspiracy (life and 15 years imprisonment); incarcerated at Columbia Annex DC number 963020.
• Derek Kaufman — first-degree murder and conspiracy (jury recommended life; sentenced to life and 30 years imprisonment); incarcerated at Mayo/C.I. DC number 894391.
• Lisa Connelly — second-degree murder and conspiracy (life and five years imprisonment, reversed on appeal and reduced to 22 years); released on parole on February 3, 2004.
• Martin Puccio — first-degree murder and conspiracy; incarcerated at Desoto Annex DC number 963022.

Outcome

Other details

Victim

Bobby Kent was an American born May 12, 1973 and murdered on July 15, 1993.

Kent attended Cooper City High School in Cooper City, Florida.

Quotes and descriptions of Kent and Puccio

Kent was described as "very Eddie Haskell like. Adults saw him one way (polite and charming) while the kids saw him a completely different way."

Puccio felt "ill-will and hatred" towards Kent.

Slay said: "Marty came out of (his) house looking like Rambo."

Kent had commonly referred to Connelly (who was overweight) as "fatass", "tatonka", "potlock" "chub" and "Shamu", often encouraging and/or forcing Puccio to do the same.

Murder circumstances as described

A few weeks prior to his death, Kent dated Alice Jean Slay (Ali Willis), best friend of Puccio’s girlfriend, Lisa Connelly. Slay moved back with her parents in Palm Bay, Florida and broke up with Kent. Kent allegedly forced Slay to watch a graphic homosexual porn movie while he had rough sex with her. Kent reportedly said he was going to murder her and smother her baby unless she returned to Broward County to date him. Slay returned, and Slay and Connelly concocted a plan to kill Kent.

Slay and Connelly obtained a gun and lured Kent to a rock pit in west Broward but backed out at the last minute.

The next day, July 15, 1993, a wider circle of friends conspired to kill Kent. The group again lured Kent to a rock pit in an undeveloped area in western Broward County, Florida, now the neighborhood of Weston. Puccio told Kent that they were going to race cars, specifically Willis' high-powered 5.0 Ford Mustang, and that Willis wanted to have sex with him again.

Sometime around midnight, Slay led Kent away from the group down by a canal. Heather Swallers was instructed by Derek Kaufman to join them and figure out if Kent suspected anything, and if she felt he didn't, Kaufman told her to ask Kent if there were any alligators in the canal. Swallers asked Kent if the canal had any alligators and Kent sarcastically told her she should go skinny dipping and find out for herself.

Almost immediately after, Donny Semenec charged Kent and stabbed him from behind in his neck. Kent whirled around and called out to Puccio for help. Puccio then stabbed him in the abdomen, and when Kent tried to flee, Semenec, Kaufman, and Puccio tackled him and stabbed and beat him.

Several times during the murder, Kent pleaded and begged Puccio for mercy with "I'm sorry!

Involved persons

• Lisa Marie Connelly (born July 31, 1974) — Puccio’s girlfriend, angry at Kent for beating and bullying Marty and allegedly raping her best friend, Ali Willis.
• Alice Jean Slay (born August 29, 1975) — Kent’s former girlfriend who was set up with Kent by Connelly; allegedly involved in a teenage prostitution ring prior to Kent’s murder.
• Donald Roth (Donny) Semenec Jr. (born July 15, 1975) — Willis’ boyfriend at the time of the murder, a habitual drug user; struck the first blow on Kent; the murder occurred on his 18th birthday.
• Derek Leon Kaufman (born May 8, 1973) — self-proclaimed mafia hitman enlisted to plan Kent's murder; had no association to the other conspirators prior to this; was actually leader of a gang of youths 7-10 years younger than he was who committed petty crimes such as theft.
• Derek George Dzvirko (born November 11, 1973) — Connelly’s cousin enlisted for extra help; played a minor role, borrowed one of the baseball bats used to kill Kent from a friend; accepted a plea bargain in exchange for testimony to help convict others; was originally promised the same prison sentence but got four extra years for attempting to lie on the witness stand.
• Heather June Swallers (born May 24, 1975) — previously a friend of Willis who had just gotten out of drug rehab; the State of Florida deemed her the least culpable; had no participation in the murder itself and ran and hid in Willis' car once it started; accepted a plea bargain and got the promised sentence because unlike Dzvirko, she did not lie during her testimony.

Book and film

The murder story was described in Jim Schutze's book Bully: A True Story of High School Revenge (ISBN 0-380-72333-6), which was made into a 2001 movie called Bully directed by Larry Clark.

Puccio was portrayed by Brad Renfro in the film. The film also portrayed Bobby Kent as Nick Stahl; Willis as Bijou Phillips; Connelly as Rachel Miner; Semenec as Michael Pitt; Swallers as Kelli Garner; Dzvirko as Daniel Franzese; and Kaufman as Leo Fitzpatrick.

The A&E television network also documented the story on its American Justice program.