Ex-Dedham Cop Convicted As Kidnapping Accessory Released Again

DEDHAM, MA — A former Dedham police officer, who was convicted on charges related to the kidnapping and subsequent death of an Avon man, was released for a second time after violating his probation, according to prosecutors. Michael Schoener, 45, first violated his probation last month when he failed an alcohol test. He violated it again when he failed to call a substance-use testing center July 19, according to prosecutors.

The case was taken under advisement by Norfolk Superior Court Judge Robert Cosgrove, who ordered Schoener released again Monday with an ankle monitor, according to the Norfolk County District Attorney's Office. The release allows Schoner to stay out of prison while he appeals his prison sentence of up to nine years.

In April, Schoener was found guilty of being an accessory before the fact in a kidnapping. The kidnapping of James Robertson, 37, led to his death, prosecutors said.

In December 2013, Schoener let his drug dealer, James Feeney, borrow his police badge, gun holster, and handcuffs, prosecutors said. Then on New Year's Day 2014, Feeney gave Schoener's gear to Scott Morrison and Alfred Ricci, who prosecutors said posed as probation officers to get inside Robertson's home. Prosecutors said the men told Robertson he was being brought in for a random drug test, stemming from probation from minor charges.

But in reality, the men took Robertson to Feeney to be beaten to death, prosecutors said. Robertson's body was found about two years later in the woods in Upton. Both Feeney and Morrison have been convicted for their roles in the murder-kidnapping. Ricci, testified as a cooperating witness in exchange for an eight-year sentence.