Tag: Alice Willis

They Should Have Let the Police Handle It
(“Payback,” Forensic Files)

Bobby Kent was described at best as an Eddie Haskell type, ingratiating to parents and teachers and snide to his peers.

At worst, the 20-year-old weight lifter was a sadistic bully, alleged to have sicced an attack dog on his best buddy and sexually assaulted two other friends.

Instead of going to the authorities or telling their parents, three of Bobby’s associates decided to end the abuse by killing him. They recruited four more people to assist in a crime that became the subject of a Forensic Files episode as well as a paperback and a movie.

The tale of the seven middle-class Floridians ages 18 to 20 who assassinated Bobby Kent in a remote Broward County spot near the Everglades on July 14, 1993, still fascinates the public. Here’s an update on those involved:

ALICE “ALI” WILLIS
DOB:  8/29/75
Relationship to Bobby Kent: Former girlfriend
Appearance: 5-foot-3, hazel eyes
Status: Released.
Having served six years of a 40-year sentence later reduced to 17 years in a minimum security facility, she is free and now calls herself Alice. After moving to Palm Bay, Florida, she picked up a charge for retail theft in 2013. It was a probation violation, but it didn’t land her back in prison. A year earlier, she appeared on a Dr. Drew show, where she was introduced as the mother of four children. The Sun Sentinel reported in early 2018 that she lives with her husband and kids in Melbourne, Florida. Incidentally, Alice told NBC Miami that she has not stayed in touch with the other conspirators.

MARTIN JOSEPH PUCCIO
DOB: 03/01/1973
Relationship to Bobby Kent: Best friend from childhood
Appearance: 6 feet, 202 pounds, brown eyes
Tat: Bulldog with a human body
Status: Serving life in Desoto Annex in Arcadia.
A judge reduced Marty’s sentence from the death penalty to life. His prison profile lists his status as in close custody, which means he “must be maintained within an armed perimeter or under direct, armed supervision when outside of a secure perimeter,” according to Florida’s Inmate Orientation Handbook. It’s the second strictest category, right behind maximum, which is reserved for death row inmates.

LISA CONNELLY
DOB: 07/31/1974
Relationship to Bobby Kent: Best friend’s girlfriend
Appearance: 5-foot-3, brown eyes
Status: Released.
Connelly served 11 years, part of it in community custody, meaning she stayed outside of prison at times but was monitored. She exited jail for good in 2004. Lisa lives in Pennsylvania with a daughter from her relationship with Marty Puccio and a younger son, according to the Sun Sentinel. During his Forensic Files interview, Lisa’s cousin Derek Dzvirko mentioned knowing Lisa’s daughter and that she was “smart” — so maybe she’ll do a better job of picking friends than her mother did. After having trouble landing jobs because of her record, Lisa turned to self-employment, becoming a certified optician and running a cleaning business, according to a 2013 Sun Sentinel story. She has kept a low profile since her release, and appeared in shadow during an interview with American Justice on the “Payback for a Bully” episode.

DONALD SEMENEC
DOB: 07/15/1975
Relationship to Bobby Kent: Dating his ex-girlfriend, Ali Willis
Appearance: 5-foot-4, 190 pounds, blue eyes
Tats include: “Skull w/dishonor”
Status: Serving life in Gulf Correctional Institute in Wewahitchka.
Don expected a sentence of no more than 22 years but instead got life because he “delivered a stab wound to Kent’s neck that started the homicidal frenzy,” according to a Sun Sentinel story.  He is serving his life sentence with no mention of parole eligibility. According to a 2013 Sun Sentinel piece, Donald has accrued 20 infractions in prison, including possessing a weapon and drug and alcohol use.

DEREK DZVIRKO
DOB: 11/02/1973
Relationship to Bobby Kent: Sketchy. He’s Lisa Connelly’s cousin.
Appearance: 6-feet, 237 pounds, green eyes.
Status: Released.
Dzvirko, who reportedly helped carry Bobby Kent’s body to the water’s edge, confessed a few days after the murder and led police to the crime scene, according to NBC Miami. He testified against the others in a plea deal and served six years in minimum security. A Florida Corrections Department profile notes his nickname of “Quarter Pounder.” After exiting prison in 1999, the beefy ex-conspirator worked as a truck driver for a while. He lives in Missouri as a single father of one, according to the Sun Sentinel.

DEREK L. KAUFMAN
DOB:  05/08/1973
Relationship to Bobby Kent: Sketchy
Appearance: 6-foot-3, 220 pounds, blue eyes, shaved head
Tats include: Female grim reaper, alien head
Status: Serving life in Gulf Correctional Institute in Wewahitchka.
As far as victimhood, Kaufman didn’t really have a dog in the race; there’s no mention of Bobby Kent’s ever hurting him. He reportedly got involved in the murder plot because he liked hanging around with impressionable teenagers. He told the conspirators that he belonged to the Mafia and would provide a gun. Instead, he produced a bat. “It wasn’t as bad as the judge said,” Derek’s grandfather Sam Kaufman said at Derek’s sentencing, according to the Sun Sentinel. “A dumb kid, that’s all.” Derek is not serving his time quietly, having committed 18 infractions in jail, including drug use and disobeying orders.

HEATHER SWALLERS
DOB: 05/04/1975
Relationship to Bobby Kent: Sketchy. Friend of a friend.
Appearance: 5-foot-2, blue eyes
Tat: “Love” across four fingers
Status: Released.
Heather got a light sentence by pleading guilty to second-degree murder and testifying against the other conspirators. She served 5 years in minimum security and lives in Georgia with her children, according to the Sun Sentinel. Although she was present during the murder, it sounds as though she had the smallest role in it out of the seven.

As far as Bobby’s parents, at the time of the sentencings, Farah and Fred Kent reportedly felt that justice had been served.

In a Sun Sentinel article from May 12, 2013, however, Bobby’s 41-year-old sister, Laila Kent, condemned the decisions to let the three girls and one boy (Derek Dzvirko) out of prison:

“It disgusts me that they have freedom after killing someone. They’re horrible people and they should be ashamed of what they did. They don’t even deserve to be alive.”

The American Justice episode is no longer on YouTube or Daily Motion, but you can watch it on Amazon Prime.

That’s all for this post. Until next time, cheers. — RR

---

Watch the Forensic Files episode on YouTube here or here. Note: It’s one of the few episodes of the original Forensic Files narrated by someone (Peter Dean) other than Peter Thomas.