Donald Semenec is one of seven young people convicted in the July 15, 1993, murder of 20-year-old Bobby Kent at a rock pit in western Broward County, Florida. Semenec, who turned 18 the day of the killing, was convicted of second-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder and sentenced to life in prison plus 15 years. He remains incarcerated at a facility in Clermont, Florida.
His Role in the Killing
The plot against Kent was hatched the day before by a group of his acquaintances who said they were tired of his bullying and violence. Martin Puccio, Kent’s friend since third grade, said Kent had beaten him for years. Alice Willis, Kent’s on-again, off-again girlfriend, said Kent had beaten her, raped her the night before the murder, and threatened her baby. Willis and Puccio’s girlfriend, Lisa Connelly, drove the planning and recruited Derek Kaufman, who described himself as a gang leader.
Semenec was central to the deception that got Kent to the site. He was introduced to Kent under the fake name “Alex” and posed as the boyfriend of another member of the group, Heather Swallers. On the drive out to the remote construction site, where Kent believed he was going to meet Willis and race a car, Semenec kept him talking about rap music and weightlifting.
When they arrived and Kent’s attention was elsewhere, Semenec walked up behind him and stabbed him in the back of the neck. That was the opening blow. Kent tried to run and was tackled. Puccio stabbed him repeatedly and cut his throat twice. Kaufman finished the attack with a weighted baseball bat. Puccio and Kaufman then dumped the body in a canal. The medical examiner, Dr. Daniel Selove, documented five stab wounds to the back, two throat wounds, a seven-inch stab wound through the heart and lung, an abdominal wound, fractured vertebrae, and defensive wounds on Kent’s hands and arms.
Trial and Life Sentence
Semenec was tried in Broward Circuit Court before Judge Charles Greene on charges of second-degree murder and conspiracy. Prosecutors showed that he helped gather the four weapons the group brought (two knives, a bat, and a lead pipe), agreed in advance to deliver the first wound, and used a false identity to keep Kent calm until the ambush.
During deliberations, the jury asked the court to clarify the elements of first- and second-degree murder and how co-defendant liability worked under Florida’s “principals” doctrine. Over a defense objection, Judge Greene reinstructed the jury on both the murder charges and the principals instruction. The jury returned a conviction on second-degree murder.
Florida’s sentencing guidelines called for seven to 22 years. Judge Greene departed upward and imposed life, citing the “excessive brutality” of the crime. Kent’s parents, Farah and Fred Kent, were reported to have shown visible relief when the sentence was read.
The Appeal
Semenec appealed to the District Court of Appeal of Florida, Fourth District. He argued the trial court mishandled the jury’s question by rereading the principals instruction, which he said unfairly emphasized the prosecution’s theory. The appellate court disagreed and found the reinstruction was a proper answer to the jury’s confusion.
He also challenged the upward departure. He argued that the “excessive brutality” finding was unfair because, he said, he had personally inflicted only a superficial wound and should not answer for what Puccio and Kaufman did. The court rejected that, finding Semenec had planned the murder, gathered weapons, lured the victim, initiated the attack, and stayed present through the killing. The trial court had also cited “breach of trust” as a second basis for departure, and on that point Semenec prevailed: the appellate record showed no position of trust between him and Kent. Because the brutality finding alone supported the life sentence, the court affirmed both the conviction and the sentence on September 3, 1997.
How His Sentence Compares to the Other Defendants
The seven co-defendants, known in press coverage as the Broward Seven, received widely different outcomes:
- Martin Puccio was convicted of first-degree murder and conspiracy and originally sentenced to death. In November 1997, the Florida Supreme Court vacated the death sentence as disproportionate to what equally culpable co-defendants received and ordered life without parole for 25 years.
- Derek Kaufman was convicted of first-degree murder and conspiracy and sentenced to life plus 30 years. The Fourth District denied his appeal in May 1997.
- Donald Semenec was convicted of second-degree murder and conspiracy and sentenced to life plus 15 years.
- Lisa Connelly, often described as a mastermind of the plot, was convicted of second-degree murder and conspiracy and initially sentenced to life plus five years. The appellate court reversed the departure and ordered resentencing within the seven-to-22-year guidelines. She served 11 years.
- Alice Willis was convicted of second-degree murder and conspiracy, sentenced to 40 years, and served about eight.
- Derek Dzvirko, who led police to the body four days after the murder, was convicted of second-degree murder and conspiracy, sentenced to 11 years, and served six.
- Heather Swallers was convicted of second-degree murder and conspiracy, sentenced to seven years, and served five.
Semenec’s role figured directly into the Florida Supreme Court’s reasoning when it spared Puccio from death. The court found Puccio’s part in the planning was smaller than some co-defendants’ and his part in the actual killing no greater than Semenec’s or Kaufman’s, noting that Semenec inflicted the first wound and Kaufman the fatal one, and that neither faced a death sentence.
Where He Is Now
Semenec is serving his life sentence at a facility in Clermont, Florida. Puccio is incarcerated in Arcadia, and Kaufman is at a state prison near Tampa. The other four defendants finished their terms years ago. Willis was arrested in May 2013 for violating state probation by providing an invalid address and was denied bond; the final outcome of that proceeding was not reported.