$33 Million Awarded To Man Wrongly Convicted In 1980 Braintree Murder

BRAINTREE, MA — Fred Weichel, the man who spent nearly 36 years in prison for a Braintree murder he was later cleared of, was awarded $33 million for his wrongful imprisonment this week.

Weichel, now 70, was convicted in 1981 in the fatal shooting of Robert LaMonica on Commercial Street in Braintree. He was 28 at the time of his arrest.

Weichel was released in 2017 on bond in after a judge threw out his conviction and ordered a new trial. The Norfolk County District Attorney's Office in 2017 opted not to seek a new trial, citing a lack of evidence against Weichel.

Weichel submitted the lawsuit against the Town of Braintree and the Boston Police Department in 2020, in which he contended that the town and police "deliberately framed him for a murder that he didn't commit," and ignored evidence that would have cleared him of any wrongdoing.

To add to the intrigue of the case, Weichel said that, at the time, he was threatened by the infamous Boston mobster James "Whitey" Bulger. The Bulger storyline was discussed during testimony from Kevin Weeks, described by The Patriot Ledger as Bulger's former right-hand man.

During his testimony, Weeks said that Bulger "didn't really care for Freddy", speaking of Weichel, and that on the night of the murder, Weeks saw Weichel at a South Boston bar, according to the Patriot Ledger.

"I knew it wasn't him, because he was in the bar," Weeks said in his testimony.

Though the jury decided on the $33 million figure, it's unclear how much of that Weichel will actually receive, as Massachusetts law states he's eligible to receive only up to $1 million, according to the paper.

What's In The Lawsuit?

The lawsuit named as defendants the town 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.

Weichel's attorneys said the Braintree Police Department withheld evidence that could have led to him being declared not guilty, 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.

The lawsuit alleged that 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 that all four witnesses identified Weichel as being the man they saw leave 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 they believed the man portrayed in a composite sketch was a convicted murderer who had not returned to prison following a work furlough, the suit said. Descriptions of the man's height and weight also matched that of the felon, but the lawsuit alleged that investigators suppressed their report.

Read more: Boston Man's Lawsuit Against Braintree Police Moves Forward

With reporting from Jimmy Bentley.