Trout
A True Story of Murder, Teens, and the Death Penalty
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3.0 • 1 Rating
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- $12.99
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- $12.99
Publisher Description
On a cool Pensacola night in January 1991, just a few minutes before midnight, three teenagers pulled up to the Trout Auto Parts store. Patrick Bonifay, his body coursing with adrenaline, entered the store clad in a ski mask carrying a loaded gun, intent on carrying out a poorly laid plan. Little did he know that it was his life--as well as the lives of his companions--that was about to be forever changed.
Bonifay, Clifford Barth, and Eddie Fordham were hired to kill Daniel Wells by Robin Archer, who blamed Wells for losing his job nine months prior. The plan was orchestrated by the then-twenty-seven-year-old Archer, who allegedly promised his seventeen-year-old nephew, Patrick, a suitcase full of money after the job was done. But Wells had called in sick that night, and an innocent man was covering his shift.
In this shocking and thought-provoking volume, Jeff Kunerth recounts the events of that fateful night, the swift investigation of the murder, the trials and sentencing of the teens, and their subsequent lives within the Florida court and penal systems. Kunerth uses the story of the Trout Auto Parts murder and the lives of these boys to explore varying aspects of troubled adolescence, impulsive actions lasting but moments, and the national trend of trying juveniles as adults in court.
They were boys every teenager can identify with and circumstances every parent fears. Their story provides a disturbing, sad, and compelling inside look at the dynamics of individuals--not yet adults, but no longer children--who commit senseless, impulsive crimes. Trout is that rare book that continues to haunt you long after you've finished reading it.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Orlando Sentinel reporter Kunerth's pedestrian account of the brutal murder of a Florida auto parts clerk at the hands of three teenage boys in Florida does little to illuminate the debate on youths and the death penalty. On January 26, 1991, in Pensacola, Fla., Patrick Bonifay, 17, Eddie Fordham, 18, and Cliff Barth, 17, drove to Trout Auto Parts, allegedly to kill the manager for firing Patrick's step-cousin, Robin Lee Archer, and to clean out the store's safe. But Patrick shot the wrong man, a clerk in the store. A deeply troubled kid with a family history of abuse, Patrick hoped the money from the robbery/murder would allow him to start a new life elsewhere. Instead, after Patrick confessed to a friend, he and the other boys, as well as Archer, were arrested and charged with first-degree murder. Kunerth attempts to make the various trials suspenseful but guilty verdicts were a foregone conclusion, leaving sentencing as the only question mark. Florida has no minimum age for the death penalty, and Patrick and Robin were sentenced to die, while Eddie and Cliff received life sentences. Examining other cases of youth crime and the idea of "adult time for adult crimes," Kunerth barely scratches the surfaces of a fascinating and volatile topic. Photos.
