Victim Impact Statement

Marni L. Sawicki
DOB: 02/16/1970

Sawicki, Marni Lin vs. Retzer, Kenneth Duane

Court Case No: F17-012466

State Case No: 13-2017-CF-012466-0001-XX

Before I begin, I want to thank you, Judge Zilber, for giving my children and me this opportunity
to have our voices heard. The only way to stop domestic violence is to shine a light on it.

Coming up with the words to describe the impact this very public event has had on my life has
been extremely difficult. I created this binder, Kenny, as an outline of all the destructive text
messages, emails and voicemails we have exchanged over the last 2 years. I was hoping that
somehow it would heal the wounds and help me understand how our relationship ended up
where it is today.

Unfortunately it did not. As I read the texts leading up to the first restraining order in 2016,
then those before and after our reconciliation, one thing is glaringly clear; what was done to me
and my children in both private and in the public eye is unthinkable, unimaginable and
unforgivable. The psychological and physical abuse I received over these two years has
changed my life forever. You took advantage of my love, my trust and my position in the
community to isolate me from both my family and friends to gain control.

You called my family, my ex-husband, MY friends, OUR friends, prominent members of our
community, without me knowing, to paint yourself as the victim. You took photographs of my
personal items in my home and gave them to people in the city to distort and try to force me to
resign from my position as mayor so you could continue to control me, humiliate me while
stripping me of my self-confidence. As a result of your actions, a councilmember armed with
innuendos and half truths publicly accused me at a council meeting on TV of crimes I have
never committed. You threatened to take our personal messages public to keep me quiet and
in a constant state of shame. Armed with the information you stole from me, members of our
community filed reports with the FBI, Florida Department of Law Enforcement, and the Ethics
Commission putting me through further distress and humiliation that is still ongoing for over a
year now. The city performed its own investigation and was given very personal emails
between the two of us that further shamed me into submission. With no one left to turn to,
you had me under your complete control.

Your actions left my reputation in shambles. I was victim blamed and bullied on social media
and by several news outlets. I still wonder what damage was done psychologically to my son as
he had to hear you beating and yelling at me while in the adjacent room with no way of
helping.

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Not until I began counseling sessions with our Abuse Counseling and Treatment Center for
domestic violence and sexual assault survivors would I fully understand terms like:
“Gaslighting” and “Crazy Making”. Both are common practices of abusers to attempt to
convince their victims they are defective, making the victim more emotional, more needy or
dependent. You used “Crazy-making” to cause me to question my communication skills, how I
view my ability to express myself, and eventually my sanity. You slowly and deliberately
stripped me of my self-confidence and dignity all the while isolating me from everyone so I’d
have nowhere to turn. You had me to the point of contemplating suicide more than once to
escape the merry-go-round and hell our relationship had become.

As an elected official, you publicly humiliated me many times by calling 9-1-1 or by having your
friends leak information to the press so they would constantly stay on top of me. At one point
one TV station displayed our relationship timeline on the nightly news which was then shared
over and over on social media; however, the defining moment was this past June while we
were at the US Conference of Mayors here in Miami where over 250 of my fellow mayors were
in attendance.

My children and I will never be able to forget that night, Kenny, where you once again called me
horrific names, lunged at me, strangled me and beat my head with your fists causing me to
have a concussion. You threw shoes at my head while calling me a whore and told me I
deserved it. You bruised my eye and left a rug burn on my chin from pushing my face down
into the mattress while you continued your brutal beating.

When you left the first time, I was so disoriented it never even occurred to me to call the police.
You left only to return a few hours later to further continue the assault. You raised your hand
to my daughter, called her names and yelled for me to shoot you with my gun over and over.
As I finally said I was going to call the police, like so many abusers, you called first. I don’t
remember hitting record on my phone that night but I believe there was a higher power looking
out for me. For the 3 months leading up to this incident I had been recording our arguments-
not so I could use them against you, but for me to have something to refer back to whenever
you made me question my sanity. I was trying to gather the strength to finally end our abusive
relationship once and for all.

After that night in the Miami hotel, I couldn’t eat or drink for almost 3 days causing me to lose
over 10 pounds in just two short days. I was afraid to go home because the media had already
been made aware and I didn’t want my children to have to endure more public scrutiny. I
continued to go to events trying to act as if everything was normal knowing everyone already
knew. In addition you were let go with only $7,000 bail and no GPS. I have never been more afraid of
returning to our home knowing you could be there to kill me. And I had good reason to worry.

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Statistically, more than 1600 women are murdered every day by a current or former male partner in
the U.S. To put this in perspective the number of American troops killed in Afghanistan and
Iraq between 2001 and 2012 was 6,488. The number of American women who were
murdered by current or ex male partners during that time was 11,766. That’s nearly double
the amount of casualties lost during war. 94 percent of women killed by men were murdered
by someone they knew. Of the victims who knew their offenders, 62 percent were wives or
other intimate acquaintances of their killers.

As a result of this incident, I’ve lost many consulting jobs that has forced me to use most of my
savings and incur a great deal of debt to pay my bills. I had to move from the condo I was
renting because I feared for my life and what you might do to me.

In the end, you won’t face a jury and because of your 27 years as a firefighter, I’ve been told
you most likely won’t serve any time. You retired with over $340,000 in your retirement DROP
account and will collect $75,000 dollars a year for the remainder of your life with health
insurance. You’ll have no problem moving to the other coast and blending in and living life as if
nothing ever happened.

As for me…I’ll continue to live with a friend until I can repair my damaged reputation and public
perception to where I can finally begin digging myself out of financial ruin. As a result of your
abuse, you’ve left me depressed, ashamed ,unable to work and unemployable for the last
seven months. The fact that I was the first woman elected as Mayor of the 10 th largest city in
Florida only amplified the attention and because of that, I’ve lost at least 5 to 6 consulting
contracts costing me about $10 to $15K a month in wages.

I get very little sleep without the help of medication and now sleep with my concealed weapon
within reach. I will have to continue to build back my self-worth and release myself from the
shame of what I’ve went through when people point or stare at me in public. Once a very
extroverted woman, I find myself scared to go to public events that you may be there or that I
will be confronted by people who want nothing more than to victim blame me into hiding. I
someday may find someone who can accept my painful past. None of this though will happen
soon. What you stole from me can never be replaced. Those memories of your abuse are
forever engrained in my mind and I have no doubt will affect any relationship I have going
forward.

There is a video of that night’s incident I am requesting be played today. Before determining
Mr. Retzer’s sentence I respectively ask that it be allowed to be shown here today so you can
truly appreciate the gravity of the events that my children and I were subjected to.

In conclusion, Judge Zilber, I plead with you to impose the maximum penalty allowed under the
plea agreement. I am requesting he be required to wear a GPS that notifies authorities if he

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comes within 1000 feet of my children or me. With this conviction I don’t know what he is
capable of doing but fear like so many others in this situation that he could and would take my
life as a result.

Domestic Violence cases rarely make it to trial. Please send a message today with your
sentence that domestic violence victims don’t have to remain in these relationships out of
shame and fear that the courts will not look out for them.

Thank you.

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