The party at the Swanky Driftwood Restaurant was winding down on the evening of June 25, 1983.
At approximately 10:30 PM, John Gentry left the gathering and made the short walk to the parking lot. Waiting for him was his two-year-old 1981 Ford Futura. Nothing appeared unusual. No suspicious individuals lingered nearby. No vehicles were parked beside his car.
Gentry climbed behind the wheel and followed the same routine he had performed countless times before. He turned the ignition key and reached for the headlight switch.
Then came a click.
An instant later, dynamite hidden inside the trunk detonated.
The explosion tore through the vehicle with devastating force. Shrapnel ripped through Gentry’s body. The rear window vanished. The front windshield blew outward. The sunroof was twisted upward like a tent.
The blast echoed across the night.
Inside the restaurant, patrons rushed outside. Among them was Gentry’s fiancée, Judi Buenoano.
What she saw was horrifying.
John Gentry lay sprawled on the pavement amid the shattered remains of his car. Witnesses recalled Buenoano screaming and asking who could possibly have wanted him dead.
Despite his severe injuries, Gentry was still alive. As emergency crews arrived and transported him to Sacred Heart Hospital, investigators quickly determined that this was no accident.
Someone had planted a bomb.
Someone had intended to kill him.
What detectives would eventually uncover shocked Florida and captured national attention. The investigation led to one of the most notorious female killers in American history—a woman who would later become known as the “Black Widow” of Florida.
On June 25, 2026—exactly forty-three years after the bombing—Sweet Tea Murders LIVE will revisit the complete story in Sweet Tea and Arsenic.
Join Southern Crime Historian and former homicide detective Michael Earl Simmons for an evening of crime, history, and investigation as he tells the full story of Judi Buenoano, the bombing of John Gentry, and the events that ultimately led to her execution in Florida’s electric chair.
But hurry…tickets are already more than 50% sold.
For tickets and information, visit SweetTeaMurders.com.
Where the tea is sweet… but the stories aren’t.
