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Hernando Today

Murder Victim Remembered As Generous Man

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By KYLE MARTIN

Published: February 15, 2008

There was very little that could upset the easygoing Robert Rutherford.

He was the type of guy that even his rare moments of anger were kept bottled inside.

So it was all the more unusual to his neighbor on Wednesday when Rutherford's calm composure corroded. Something was bothering him.

"Mary, I'm shaking all to pieces," he told her outside their apartments on S. Main Street.

Mary Level, 75, pressed him to tell her what was bothering him, but he wouldn't give any details. She put it down to a case of nerves and recommended he see a doctor.

Late that night, sometime between midnight and 1 a.m., two shots woke her up. Level's Shih Tzu mix, Punkin, sprang out of bed and began clawing the front door as if someone were coming.

Within an hour, the wash of blue and red lights from police cruisers flickered through the curtains.

Officially, police have little to say beyond that they are investigating the homicide of a 69-year-old man. Someone called around 12:15 a.m. Thursday to report an injured person.

Police found him dead.

They have a person of interest.

But a motive, or manner of death, has not yet been released by authorities.

Rutherford was known as "Bunk" or "Bunky" to people far and wide across Hernando County, but especially in the city of Brooksville.

Here's what they had to say about him:

He stood barely above 5 feet, was skinny and wrinkled. Admittedly, "he was hard on the eyes, but he was easy on the heart."

His laugh was a high-pitched cackle; he spoke with a rich Southern accent drawn from his roots in small-town Tennessee.

"There wasn't a mean bone in his body."

"He put the 'good' in 'good old boy.'"

If he grabbed a cup of coffee and eased into a seat, you better make a quick escape if you didn't want to hear hours of his stories.

There wasn't a poker game he would say no to.

He loved to cook but hated to eat; his cornbread was the best in Hernando County.

Rutherford's home for the past six months was the Lemontree Apartments at 770 S. Main Street, just north of Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard.

More specifically, it was Apt. No. 21, the last apartment on the block with a brick face, tan trim and yellow crime scene tape keeping out onlookers.

Neighbors gathered in clusters to compare their notes. Someone overheard "blood spatter." Three people were told by police "he put up a good fight."

He charmed everyone in the complex with his tall tales and generosity. Most folks there owed him money or a favor, but Rutherford wasn't one to keep track of IOUs.

Some say his kind spirit was a magnet for women looking to take advantage of him.

Tina Kimbell had nothing but kind words about her neighbor, but she worried sometimes about the "unsavory characters" that passed through Rutherford's door.

"You mess with dogs, you're going to get fleas," she said.

Just down the road is the Patriot Metals scrap yard, where Rutherford was renowned for his soldering skills and gift of gab.

"We all had a good cry this morning," said David Stubstad, a co-worker for the past 13 years. "The world's not a nice place today."

Rutherford's legendary abilities as a welder drew novices from around the area for advice. He could have his back to someone welding and just from the sound know whether the rod was too close or not hot enough.

Equally impressive was his big heart. His wallet was out anytime a colleague couldn't buy Christmas toys for his kids or someone needed repairs to their car.

Across town on Fort Dade Avenue, Renee Lavallie was struggling to make sense of Rutherford's death.

During the past 20 years, the two have made short trips to yard sales and long journeys to Rutherford's native Tennessee. They've shared many memories and hardships, the most recent being a fight with cancer.

Rutherford acted differently after the diagnosis, from boasting about the guns in his house to despondency and suicidal thoughts, according to Lavallie.

She thinks it's possible he made a brash statement to the wrong person, but even so, it's a mystery who would want to do him harm.

"Whatever he had, he would give it you," she said through her tears.

Rutherford is survived by four children, including his eldest daughter, Bobbi-Jo Pellizzari. The shock has left her literally numb.

"I lost feeling in my hands and feet," she said by phone from Tellico, Tenn. "For a long time this morning, I couldn't even cry."

What bothers her the most, perhaps, is the unexpected nature of her father's demise.

"It wasn't like my dad was in the hospital," she said. "Someone took his life."

Also among the survivors are sons, Robbie Rutherford Jr., John Rutherford and daughter, Toni Rutherford; eight grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren.

Funeral arrangements are pending the release of his body from the medical examiner's office in Leesburg.

Reporter Kyle Martin can be reached at 352-544-5271 or kmartin@hernandotoday.com.

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