Former Dedham Cop Convicted In Kidnapping, Murder Case

DEDHAM, MA — A former Dedham police officer was found guilty Wednesday on charges connected to the kidnapping and death of an Avon man. Michael Schoener, 45, was convicted of being an accessory before the fact in a kidnapping.

In late 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 the police gear to Scott Morrison and Alfred Ricci, who prosecutors said stormed the home of James Robertson, 37, with Schoener's gear.

Prosecutors said the men posed as probation officers and told Robertson he was being brought in for a required random drug test, a part of Robertson's probation related to 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.

By letting someone use his badge, handcuffs and other gear, Dedham Police Chief Michael D'Entremont said Schoener betrayed the public's trust.

"Schoener has been found guilty of abusing the sacred trust placed by the citizens of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in police officers and the municipal police badge," D'Entremont said. "His actions jeopardized that trust, and there is no room for individuals who engage in this type of conduct in the profession of policing."

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.

Schoener will be sentenced Thursday morning in Norfolk Superior Court. He could face a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison.

"It was important to this family, to this office and to the law enforcement community that Michael Schoener be held accountable for his part in this awful crime," Morrissey said. "He stands convicted of handing over to his drug dealer his police badge, holster, handcuffs and information about James Robertson. It was a shocking betrayal of public trust, with a brutal and shocking outcome."