Man Who Planned Murder Of His Girlfriend At 16 Eligible For Parole In 9 Years

The then-16-year-old who planned the murder of his former girlfriend and enlisted his friend to help him, was re-sentenced this week nearly 40 years after receiving a life sentence as a minor.

Robert Buli, now 55, had been serving a life sentence since 1979 for the slaying of 17-year-old Diane Goeke in Middletown. He was recently re-sentenced to serve 48 years to life, making him eligible for parole in nine years, according to the Bucks County District Attorney’s Office.

Buli, who had been misconduct-free for the past 28 years, was credited by Bucks County Common Pleas Court Judge Rea Boylan with making strides toward rehabilitating himself, saying she no longer considers Buli a risk to the community.

John Lekka, Buli’s accomplice in the murder, was re-sentenced in October to 45 years to life for the same crime, since his prison record was more exemplary. 

On November 13, 1978, Buli and Lekka beat 17-year-old Diane Goeke repeatedly with a two-by-four board and metal pipes, and left her for dead in a small, underground fort near their homes off Woodbourne Road in Levittown. After returning hours later to find her still alive, they fatally crushed her by dropping a 220-pound piece of concrete on her head. Goeke’s body was found the following day by children from a nearby school who were gathering leaves.

Buli began planning the murder of Goeke upon believing she was once again pregnant with his child. Two months before the murder, Goeke had given birth to Buli’s daughter, who was then placed for adoption. Buli had since been severely punished by his parents and forbidden from seeing Goeke.

“For many years I have wished to express the remorse, guilt, sorrow and shame that I feel for what I have done and to apologize for the endless pain and suffering that I have caused the Goeke family, my family, the Lekka family and each and every individual within the community,” Buli said in court. “I admit that there is no rational excuse for what I have done and the destruction that I have caused. I assume full responsibility for my horrific actions that resulted in the senseless and tragic death of Diane Goeke. As a beautiful and intelligent young woman with her whole life ahead of her, she did not deserve the terrible fate that she suffered by my hands,” he said. “The remorse and sorrow that I feel for what I have done is beyond my ability to put into words.”

In 1979, Buli and Lekka pleaded guilty to a general charge of homicide, and were convicted of first-degree murder at a degree-of-guilt hearing. Both received mandatory life sentences without parole, plus a consecutive five to 10 years for conspiracy.

Buli and his attorneys have agreed to allow written statements submitted by Goeke’s family and friends to be read in court by Deputy District Attorney Jennifer M. Schorn. Those statements will be part of the record that could be considered someday by the parole board.

Boylan accepted the terms of the agreement, vacated Buli’s life sentence, and imposed the new sentence, which includes a concurrent five to 10 years for conspiracy.

Buli said he would “never forget how many innocent lives were affected by what I did. The ripple effect of my destructive behavior that night reaches far and wide and spans over decades.”

Buli was the third of six inmates from the county who have been re-sentenced after receiving life sentences for murders committed as juveniles. Similar proceedings are being held throughout the commonwealth as a result of recent federal and state appellate court decisions. Those decisions have declared mandatory life sentences for juveniles to be unconstitutional, requiring new hearings to reconsider those sentences.