The Black Widow

By Mike Simmons

“He’s a lucky man…God’s been with him.” Those were the words of Albert Gentry, brother of John Gentry. Albert was referring to John’s two close calls with death. When John was serving in the military in the Vietnam War, he stepped on a mine while on patrol. The mine exploded under him causing severe injuries and a lengthy hospital stay, but no permanent injury. Then, on Wednesday night, June 25, 1983, John’s car exploded when he turned on the ignition in downtown Pensacola.

John Gentry was a wallpaper businessman from Pensacola. In 1983, John met a woman named Judi Buenoano, a nurse who lived in the nearby town of Gulf Breeze. Despite her nursing qualifications, Judi owned and operated a nail sculpturing salon. She was a successful businesswoman from all appearances of her lifestyle.

After the explosion, it didn’t take long to figure it was caused by a criminal act. Someone had deliberately set a bomb in the car. In the middle of the night, the phones of Detectives Rick Steele and Ted Chamberlain rang. In a 2019 interview with Ted, he said he first suspected Judi when he arrived at the scene. Ted recalled “Instead of parking near the restaurant, she parked her Corvette a long way off – why? After the initial incident, Ted interviewed Judi a few days later. Her arrogance bothered him. “She bragged that she earned $500,000 per year.” He later found out that the life insurance Judi took out on Gentry was for $500,000. One of the first crucial things a detective does when assigned a case is to check the background of all the players. In the Police Department’s Records section, he searched for Judias Buenoano. Nothing. Ted had a sudden thought. A young Hispanic woman worked in the Records section, so Ted asked her “What does the name Buenoano mean in English?” “It means Goodyear” she answered. Bingo! He was introduced to several death investigations that had been conducted involving husbands, boyfriends, and…her son. The locations ranged from Pensacola to Colorado, and insurance money was involved in every one of them.

As the case was looked into, Gentry’s fiancée, Judi Buenoano, was developed as a primary suspect. Further investigation revealed that Buenoano had previously tried to kill Gentry by using poison. In an attempt to improve his health, she began giving him a regiment of “Vitamin C” that would make him feel better and be healthier, she told him. A task force involving investigators from all interested agencies was formed. Soon, the task force members began suspecting Buenoano in the death of her son, her husband, her common-law husband, and perhaps one or two more people. Each person had a life insurance policy paid to Judi Buenoano. 

After a long and exhausting trial, Buenoano was, on March 31, 1984, convicted of pre-meditated first-degree murder in the death of her son, who drowned while on a canoe trip with Judy in the East River. She was given a life sentence. She was also convicted of the attempted murder of John Gentry and received a 12-year prison sentence for it. Because of the work of Steele, Chamberlain, members of the task force, and State Attorney Russ Edgar, Buenoano was convicted of premeditated first-degree murder in the death of her husband, James Goodyear, in Orlando in 1971. She received the death penalty and met her fate on Monday, March 30, 1998.

Good job, Ted, Rick and Russ.