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Venice man says he killed girlfriend
Kevin Kent left a note attached to the victim's back admitting to the crime.
By EARLE KIMEL [email protected]
VENICE GARDENS -- Denise Dean was already dead and her killer was hiding out in her house when sheriff's deputies knocked on her door to find out why she'd called 911.
Her killer hung up the phone when she tried to call for help, then strangled her before that help arrived.
Two days passed before anyone knew Dean was dead. When concerned friends called deputies Thursday, they returned to her Elm Drive home to find her front door open and the 37-year-old's body face down on the bathroom floor.
A note attached to her back read, "I Kevin Kent killed Denise Dean."
Deputies went to the Redfern Road house that Dean and Kent, her boyfriend, used to share, and found him in the yard. They arrested Kent, who they say has confessed.
Kent, 34, a construction worker, was charged with second-degree murder and is being held in the Sarasota County jail without bail. He did not attend his first-appearance hearing in Sarasota on Friday.
Kent had been ordered to have no contact with Dean after he was released from custody for an October domestic battery complaint Dean made.
Denise Dean, 37, was strangled just after she had dialed 911, authorities say.
The two argued when he went to her home in the 1700 block of Elm Drive on Tuesday. Dean called 911, but Kent clicked off the receiver, reports say. Kent told deputies Dean tried to leave the house twice, but he pulled her back inside both times.
He admitted that he "strangled her until she quit breathing and had no pulse," then hid when deputies knocked.
Sarasota County sheriff's spokesman Chuck Lesaltato said deputies did everything they could when they checked on Dean's 911 call.
"A lot of times we get these type of calls where it could be a cell phone battery going dead or just something in the line," he added. "If it's at a house, we go there and try to make contact."
He said deputies will look in the windows, walk around the house and check with neighbors, but they can't forcefully enter a house unless they see something inside.
Over the next two days, at least two people -- including Dean's ex-husband, Thomas Clark -- stopped by the house, Kent told deputies. He said he considered suicide.
Kent called his sister in Massachusetts, deputies said, then called to confess the crime to Clark, a regular at The Outlook Pub on the Intracoastal Waterway.
Lizsa Lehman, the Outlook bartender who later called sheriff's deputies, said Clark was in disbelief at the news.
"I was standing within 2 feet of him and he said, 'Kevin said he just killed Denise,'" Lehman said.
"My other bartender said it's got to be a prank. There's no way somebody would call."
Clark declined to be interviewed. He has custody of his and Dean's 8-year-old son. Dean has two older children who live with another ex-husband in Indiana.
Kent confessed to Clark and then rode his bicycle to the Redfern Road house, reports say.
Mary Fleming, an Elm Drive resident, said Dean told her Kent was her husband, but that they were going to split up because of domestic problems.
"She was really sweet," said Angel Fleming, Mary Fleming's niece. "She had her problems but everybody has their own problems.
Dean, a waitress who frequently changed jobs, had a string of run-ins with police including a 1996 credit card fraud charge and two drunken driving convictions.
"She's a mixed-up person, involved in drugs and alcohol her whole life," said Lehman.
Both Dean and Kent had been barred from the Outlook because of their constant fights.
"Denise was always drawn to the bad guy," Lehman said.
http://www.heraldtribune.com/apps/p...0030208&Kategori=NEWS&Lopenr=302080333&Ref=AR
Kevin Kent left a note attached to the victim's back admitting to the crime.
By EARLE KIMEL [email protected]
VENICE GARDENS -- Denise Dean was already dead and her killer was hiding out in her house when sheriff's deputies knocked on her door to find out why she'd called 911.
Her killer hung up the phone when she tried to call for help, then strangled her before that help arrived.
Two days passed before anyone knew Dean was dead. When concerned friends called deputies Thursday, they returned to her Elm Drive home to find her front door open and the 37-year-old's body face down on the bathroom floor.
A note attached to her back read, "I Kevin Kent killed Denise Dean."
Deputies went to the Redfern Road house that Dean and Kent, her boyfriend, used to share, and found him in the yard. They arrested Kent, who they say has confessed.
Kent, 34, a construction worker, was charged with second-degree murder and is being held in the Sarasota County jail without bail. He did not attend his first-appearance hearing in Sarasota on Friday.
Kent had been ordered to have no contact with Dean after he was released from custody for an October domestic battery complaint Dean made.
Denise Dean, 37, was strangled just after she had dialed 911, authorities say.
The two argued when he went to her home in the 1700 block of Elm Drive on Tuesday. Dean called 911, but Kent clicked off the receiver, reports say. Kent told deputies Dean tried to leave the house twice, but he pulled her back inside both times.
He admitted that he "strangled her until she quit breathing and had no pulse," then hid when deputies knocked.
Sarasota County sheriff's spokesman Chuck Lesaltato said deputies did everything they could when they checked on Dean's 911 call.
"A lot of times we get these type of calls where it could be a cell phone battery going dead or just something in the line," he added. "If it's at a house, we go there and try to make contact."
He said deputies will look in the windows, walk around the house and check with neighbors, but they can't forcefully enter a house unless they see something inside.
Over the next two days, at least two people -- including Dean's ex-husband, Thomas Clark -- stopped by the house, Kent told deputies. He said he considered suicide.
Kent called his sister in Massachusetts, deputies said, then called to confess the crime to Clark, a regular at The Outlook Pub on the Intracoastal Waterway.
Lizsa Lehman, the Outlook bartender who later called sheriff's deputies, said Clark was in disbelief at the news.
"I was standing within 2 feet of him and he said, 'Kevin said he just killed Denise,'" Lehman said.
"My other bartender said it's got to be a prank. There's no way somebody would call."
Clark declined to be interviewed. He has custody of his and Dean's 8-year-old son. Dean has two older children who live with another ex-husband in Indiana.
Kent confessed to Clark and then rode his bicycle to the Redfern Road house, reports say.
Mary Fleming, an Elm Drive resident, said Dean told her Kent was her husband, but that they were going to split up because of domestic problems.
"She was really sweet," said Angel Fleming, Mary Fleming's niece. "She had her problems but everybody has their own problems.
Dean, a waitress who frequently changed jobs, had a string of run-ins with police including a 1996 credit card fraud charge and two drunken driving convictions.
"She's a mixed-up person, involved in drugs and alcohol her whole life," said Lehman.
Both Dean and Kent had been barred from the Outlook because of their constant fights.
"Denise was always drawn to the bad guy," Lehman said.
http://www.heraldtribune.com/apps/p...0030208&Kategori=NEWS&Lopenr=302080333&Ref=AR
