Inspiration
The film is based on the July 15, 1993 murder of Bobby Kent at a remote area in Cooper City, Florida, south of Alligator Alley. Four of the convicted teens, known as the Broward County Seven, were released after serving brief prison terms. Today, only three are still serving prison sentences. The book, Bully: A True Story of High School Revenge by Jim Schutze was released in 1998.
The actual co-perpetrators of the murder were convicted and sentenced as follows:
- Martin Joseph "Marty" Puccio, Jr. First-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder. Sentenced to death by electrocution on July 27, 1995; commuted to life in prison without the possibility of parole for 25 years plus 30 years on November 20, 1997. Currently incarcerated at the Desoto Annex in Arcadia, Florida.
- Heather June Swallers Second-degree murder and conspiracy to commit first-degree murder. Was sentenced to only seven years imprisonment on May 12, 1995 because unlike Derek Dzvirko she did not attempt to lie on the witness stand. Released February 14, 1998. Heather married Carlos Eduardo Isaac in Brevard County, Florida on February 14, 2000.
- Derek George Dzvirko Second-degree murder and conspiracy to commit first-degree murder. Was originally sentenced to seven years imprisonment on May 12, 1995 but received four extra years for trying to lie on the witness stand. Released October 1, 1999.
- Alice Jean "Ali" Willis (aka Alice Jean Chapman, Alice Jean Slay) Second-degree murder and conspiracy to commit second-degree murder. Sentenced to forty years imprisonment on May 19, 1995; reduced on appeal to 17 years for the murder charge and 15 years for the conspiracy charge. Released on Supervised Probation September 16, 2001. Currently residing in Palm Bay, Florida. Probation set to terminate September 15, 2041.
- Donald Daniel "Donny" Semenec, Jr. Second-degree murder. Sentenced to life in prison on May 17, 1995. Two weeks after his conviction in the murder of Bobby Kent, Donny received another 14-month sentence for bringing drugs into jail and cocaine possession stemming from a 1994 case. Currently incarcerated at the Lake Correctional Institution in Clermont, Florida.
- Derek Leon Kaufman First-degree murder and conspiracy to commit first-degree murder. Sentenced to life plus 30 years imprisonment on June 12, 1995. On November 15, 1994, Derek received a 2½-year sentence for trafficking in stolen property, stemming from a February 1993 case. Currently incarcerated at the Mayo Correctional Institution in Mayo, Florida.
- Lisa Marie Connelly Second-degree murder and conspiracy to commit aggravated battery with a deadly weapon. Sentenced to life plus five years imprisonment on July 21, 1995; reduced on appeal to 22 years. Released on February 3, 2004. Lisa delivered her and Kent's daughter in the Broward County Jail during her incarceration.
Read more about this topic: Bully (2001 film)
Famous quotes containing the word inspiration:
“Shakespeare carries us to such a lofty strain of intelligent activity, as to suggest a wealth which beggars his own; and we then feel that the splendid works which he has created, and which in other hours we extol as a sort of self-existent poetry, take no stronger hold of real nature than the shadow of a passing traveller on the rock. The inspiration which uttered itself in Hamlet and Lear could utter things as good from day to day, for ever.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
“The ironies in the commonplace are my inspiration and delight.”
—Mason Cooley (b. 1927)