In the summer of 2017, a long-simmering dispute between neighbors in Philadelphia's Frankford section erupted into deadly violence, claiming the lives of 45-year-old Bob DePaul and his girlfriend, August Dempsey. The male victim, Robert 'Bobby' DePaul, was a father of four.
On the night of July 16, 2017, DePaul was working on his motorcycle, an activity that sparked the final, fatal argument with his 69-year-old neighbor, Kenneth Hoyle.
The verbal altercation escalated, and Hoyle would later tell police that he shot DePaul and Dempsey. The bodies of DePaul and Dempsey were discovered in a breezeway on the 4700 block of James Street, both having sustained gunshot wounds to the head and back.
In the immediate aftermath, Hoyle was taken into custody but was initially released after claiming he had acted in self-defense, alleging that the couple had been trying to climb his fence. This decision was met with anguish and disbelief by the victims' families, who then publicly campaigned for charges to be brought against Hoyle. Their efforts included displaying a large banner outside the couple's home that pointed to Hoyle's residence and identified him as the killer who remained free.
Following a more thorough investigation, the Philadelphia District Attorney's Office charged Kenneth Hoyle with two counts of first-degree murder nearly two weeks after the shooting. The arrest brought a sense of relief to the grieving families and the neighborhood, which had been on edge since the violent deaths.
