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Florida Woman Eyed in Husband's Brutal Killing on Boat: “Everything Showed She Was Lying”
Florida police discovered Denise Bozarth had two reasons to want her husband, Ed, dead: an affair with a neighbor and money.
Around 11 p.m. on July 1, 2007, a boater reported a suspicious odor coming off a boat docked in Gibert’s Marina in Key Largo, Florida. Monroe Co. Sheriff’s Office deputies then discovered a decomposing body in an engine compartment under a bed on the vessel.
“It would be a major story because of how unique and how gruesome it was,” said reporter David Goodhue on Killer Relationship with Faith Jenkins, airing Saturdays at 8/7c on Oxygen. “There’s flies. Maggots everywhere. Anytime in South Florida after May, if you stored a body anywhere but a walk-in freezer like you see in a restaurant, it’s going to decompose quickly.”
The boat was registered to Edward Bozarth III, whose remains were found on board. He’d died of seven blows to the head, with what was believed to be a hammer. But when deputies spoke to his wife, Denise, they were shocked by her reaction.
“I expected a lot more emotion out of her,” former detective Mark Coleman said on Killer Relationship with Faith Jenkins. “And more questions. And we weren’t met with that. It was strange, you know?”
Although deputies suspected Denise had something to do with her husband’s murder, they had to spend years proving it and getting justice for Ed’s family.
Ed and Denise Bozarth's Deteriorating Marriage
Ed and Denise Bozarth first met at the marina in 1994. Both were divorced, with children from previous relationships and marriages.
“Denise is actually the same age as I am. So, when my father met Denise, she was all of 21 years old. And he was near 50,” said Charles Bozarth, Ed’s son, on the show. “Then one night, my dad just said, ‘I’m dating her now.’ I thought he was going through a midlife crisis.”
Although they were a May-December romance, Denise and Ed had two children together and married.
“They were in love with each other and living on this boat and living the good life,” Charles Bozarth said. “He was happy with that.”
In 2005, the family briefly stayed with Ed’s dying mother.
“Denise had a taste of the good life,” Charles Bozarth said. “My grandma had a pool. She had a nice house, nice neighborhood. Yeah, Denise wanted to live there.”
After his mother’s death, Ed had the option to keep living in her home but decided to move his family back onto a boat in Key Largo.
“Denise wasn’t any too happy about that,” Charles added. “But that was my father’s decision.”
Two years later, Ed Bozarth was killed.
Denise Bozarth's Affair with Neighbor Dave Campbell
Deputies and detectives spoke to Dave Campbell, who owned the boat docked closest to the Bozarth’s. He said Denise was planning to leave Ed, and on June 23, had her parents pick up their kids and take them to their house.
“We picked up on David Campbell’s relationship with Ed Bozarth as being non-friendly,” Coleman said. “You could tell he obviously did not like Ed. They did not get along.”
Campbell also alleged that Ed abused his wife.
“He said that Denise complained to him that Ed had hit her,” said Dennis Haley, former special agent with the Florida Dept. of Law Enforcement, on Killer Relationship with Faith Jenkins. “And she showed him a black eye one time.”
However, neighbors told police Denise Bozarth and Dave Campbell’s relationship wasn’t just neighborly. Several mentioned that the two started having an affair after Campbell’s wife died in Dec. 2006. It was Denise’s friend, Bonnie Colon, who not only confirmed the affair to detectives, but mentioned another reason for Denise to want Ed dead.
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“She said she wanted to [divorce him] but she couldn’t because the money that she was supposed to get from him,” Colon said in police interviews. “Denise was to be a very rich woman if something happened to Ed.”
Ed Bozarth had inherited hundreds of thousands of dollars from his mother.
“My grandmother had a rather large trust fund that was to be inherited upon my father’s death,” Charles Bozarth said. “And certainly everyone in the family knew it.”
Colon told police her friend Denise had mentioned killing her husband.
“The way that she said it was she was going to wait and see,” Colon told police. “They’re working on a generator, they’re working on something. She was going to make it look like an accident.”
Meanwhile, Dave Campbell finally admitted to the affair to detectives, but there wasn’t enough evidence to arrest either him or Denise Bozarth. The case went cold for years, until 2011, when a new detective was assigned to the case.
Denise Bozarth arrested for her husband's murder four years later
Dave Campbell was interviewed by deputies and detectives about Ed Bozarth’s murder again in 2011, and this time, he didn’t deny anything, and instead made accusations against Denise.
“He admitted he lied,” Haley said. “He admitted that he didn’t tell the truth. That he was trying to protect Denise at the time. He’s now telling us that Denise wanted Ed killed. She’s offered him $10,000 to kill Ed.”
On March 15, 2012, Denise Bozarth was arrested and charged with first-degree murder. She confessed to Ed’s murder, but claimed it was self-defense.
“She woke up and saw Ed standing over her with a gun,” Coleman said. “She felt fear for her life. And grabbed a hammer that was nearby, ready to defend herself.”
Denise Bozarth asked for an attorney during the interview in which she confessed, but police continued to question her. A judge ruled her confession inadmissible in court. With a weaker case, Denise ended up pleading guilty to second-degree murder and sentenced to 14 years in prison. She served 10 years and was released on Feb. 6, 2024.
Dave Campbell was never charged in connection to Ed Bozarth’s murder.
Watch all-new episodes of Killer Relationship with Faith Jenkins on Saturdays at 8/7c on Oxygen.
