On this day, July 15, in 1993, in South Florida, former high school chums stabbed and bludgeoned a bully to death in a sordid case that captured America’s attention.
The motive was revenge and a woman wronged.
Bobby Kent and Marty Puccio, both 20, had been best friends since the second grade.
But Puccio grew tired of being pushed around by Kent, a handsome surfer and bodybuilder.
Puccio’s 18-year-old girlfriend was angry because Kent had abused her friend when the two were dating.
The young adults asked Kent to join them at a rock quarry, where they stabbed him in the back, bashed his head and tossed his body into a rock quarry lake.
Puccio was sentenced to life in prison. The murder resulted in the best-selling true crime book and the 2001 movie “Bully,” starring Brad Renfro.
— Scott McCabe
