Marquetti was born in Cuba and moved to the United States with his family when he was aged 11 because of "political reasons."[1] His family settled in Lynwood, California, where his father gained work as a tilesetter.[1]
Marquetti was playing basketball in a park league as a ninth grader when he was noticed by Rudy Washington, a junior varsity coach at Locke High School.[1] Marquetti attended Locke until he was declared ineligible because he was playing basketball for a school out of his district.[1]
When Washington became the head coach of the basketball team at Verbum Dei High School, Marquetti transferred there for his junior and season years.[1] He was nicknamed "Spider Man" because of his leaping ability; he had a vertical jump measured at 43 inches.[2] Marquetti averaged 17.8 points and 16 rebounds per game during his senior season,[2] and was named to the Parade All-American first-team in 1978.[3]
Marquetti estimated that he received between 275 and 300 letters from colleges interested in recruiting him.[1] He committed to play basketball for the USC Trojans where Washington was hired as an assistant coach.[1]
Marquetti averaged 4.8 points and 4.6 rebounds per game during his two seasons with the Trojans.[4] Trojans replaced head coach Bob Boyd with Stan Morrison who wanted to move Marquetti to center instead of forward.[5] Marquetti decided to transfer and was bound to join the Cal State Fullerton Titans until he was prevented by transcript problems.[5] He instead joined the Hampton Pirates.[5]
Marquetti had to sit out his first semester at Hampton but played in 21 of the team's 28 games during the 1980–81 season.[4] He led the team in rebounds with 9.0 per game.[6]
On March 25, 2010, Marquetti fatally shot his ex-girlfriend's handyman, Michael Hurlbutt, in Plant City, Florida.[9] Prosecutors portrayed Marquetti as a hoarder who struggled losing his girlfriend, Siglinde Sperber, when she ended their 10-year relationship and asked him to move out of their home.[9][10] Marquetti was agitated when he saw Hurlbutt and Sperber together as they left Sperber's house and shot Hurlbutt four times.[9] Marquetti was convicted by a jury of first-degree murder, aggravated battery with a firearm and false imprisonment.[9] On May 27, 2011, Marquetti was sentenced to life in prison without parole for the murder.[11]