By:Hector Flores
The news came only a week after Carlie's father, Joseph Brucia, 39, of Bellmore, held a memorial service for his little girl at St. Barnabas Roman Catholic Church in Bellmore. The service drew more than 600 mourners, who were touched by Carlie's tragic story and said special prayers of comfort for the Brucia family.
"This is horrendous," said Andrea Brucia, Carlie's grandmother, who lives in Wantagh. "No one should ever have to go through this."
Carlie's parents were divorced. The girl lived with her mother, Susan Schorpen, in Sarasota, Fla., and visited her father in Bellmore during summer and winter breaks from school. Her kidnapping first came to light over three weeks ago when a surveillance camera recorded her being led away by an unidentified, tattooed man wearing a mechanic's uniform on Feb. 1.
Two days later, on a Tuesday, Joseph Smith, 37, was arrested on a parole violation and named as a suspect. On Friday of that same week, Carlie's body was discovered behind a church parking lot. Florida state officials and Carlie's family are now seeking the death penalty for Smith if he is found guilty of Carlie's murder.
One thing Carlie's father, Joseph, cannot understand is why Smith, a man who was arrested 13 times in Florida and charged with battery, attempted kidnapping, drugs and weapons possession, was allowed to roam free on Florida streets.
In an interview with the Herald on Monday, Brucia blamed the Florida court system for failing to prevent his daughter's murder. "I want Judge Harry Repkin to resign his judgeship," Brucia said. "He oversaw the first battery charge [Smith faced] when he attacked a woman with motorcycle helmet and broke her nose.
"There were at least 26 incidents where Smith had brushes with the law," Brucia continued. "The last judge to see Smith was Chief Circuit Judge Robert Bennett Jr., who oversaw Smith's second to last violation."
Brucia added that most of the judges only looked at Smith's parole violation, but never bothered to look at his record. "Smith was clearly a danger to society, and it doesn't take an educated person to see that," Brucia said. "This man was a danger. What I'm trying to do is point out is that these [judges] are lenient on these crooks. There is no punishment for parole violators, just more probation."
