Boston Man Sues Braintree, Cops, Alleging Gross Misconduct

BOSTON – Braintree, Boston and Massachusetts State Police officers "deliberately and intentionally framed" a man who spent 36 years in prison for a murder he did not commit, according to a lawsuit filed Monday in U.S. District Court in Boston.

Frederick Weichel's lawsuit names the city of Braintree, its police department, deceased former police Chief John Polio and several Braintree police officers, as well as several Boston and Massachusetts State Police officers, as defendants. Weichel wants unspecified monetary damages and a trial to address his claims that his rights were violated, according to attorney Mark Loevy-Reyes.

“I am trying my best to make up for all those years by living every moment as if it were my last,” Weichel said in a statement. “This lawsuit will give me an opportunity to rebuild my life.”

Braintree officials did not respond to an email sent by Patch on Wednesday seeking comment on the lawsuit.

Weichel, now 68, was convicted in 1981 for the shooting death of Robert La Monica as he came home from work just after midnight in the parking lot of a Braintree apartment building in May 1980. He was released on bond in 2017 after a judge threw out his conviction and ordered a new trial. The Norfolk County District Attorney’s Office is not seeking a new trial, citing a lack of evidence against Weichel in a 2017 announcement.

Weichel’s attorneys claim that the Braintree Police Department withheld evidence that could have led to him being declared innocent, and instead allowed a file with information about the investigation to sit in a basement for more than 30 years. Weichel made repeated requests for the police records while turning down offers for leniency as he maintained his innocence.

In the lawsuit, lawyers representing Weichel said the defendants fabricated evidence against him to quickly solve the crime and fabricated a false witness to identify him. Four witnesses saw a man fleeing the shooting from 60 yards away and only saw the man for a few seconds, according to the complaint.

Officers testified all four witnesses identified Weichel as being the man they saw fled the scene, when in reality, none of the witnesses were able to identify who they had seen, according to the suit.

Eleven witnesses told police officials that they believed the man portrayed in a composite sketch was a convicted murder who had not returned to prison following a work furlough. Descriptions of the man’s height and weight also matched that of the felon, but the lawsuit alleges that investigators suppressed their report.

According to the lawsuit, several witnesses said that Weichel was in Boston at the time of the shooting, which took place around midnight. At the time of the crime, Weichel was 28 and held a degree in psychology from the University of Massachusetts. According to a news release from his attorneys, Weichel was assaulted several times during his 36 years in prison.