Officer's killer resentenced to 37 years
Shorter term for 1991 blast
A man who had been serving a life sentence for building a bomb that killed one Boston police officer and maimed another in 1991 was resentenced yesterday to 37 years in prison.
The sentence means that Alfred W. Trenkler, 51, could be freed in about 19 years, with so-called good time.
That prospect was a disappointment for his family and the families of his victims and left both the defense and prosecutors saying they may appeal it.
"We shouldn't have had to be here today," said Cynthia Hurley. Trenkler should spend the rest of his life in prison for orchestrating the Oct. 28, 1991 blast that killed her husband, Officer Jeremiah J. Hurley Jr., 50, she said.
Still, she said she was thankful to US District Judge Rya W. Zobel "for not letting him walk out the door today."
But that was exactly what Trenkler's family said they had been hoping for.
"I came in here thinking it was going to be time served, and I'm very disappointed," said Trenkler's stepfather, John Wallace of Milton. "We know that Alfred is innocent. . . . We will not give up."
Trenkler, of Milton, was convicted by a federal jury in 1993 of plotting with his then 21-year-old lover, Thomas A. Shay, to build the bomb that was meant to target Shay's father. The elder Shay called police to his Roslindale home after the suspicious device fell from the undercarriage of his car as he pulled into the driveway.
The bomb detonated as it was being examined by Hurley and his partner, Francis X. Foley, both on the Boston Police Bomb Squad.
Zobel sentenced Trenkler to life in prison in March 1994. The younger Shay, who was convicted for his role in the bombing, was released from prison two years ago after serving 12 years.
Then in February, Zobel tossed out Trenkler's sentence after his lawyers argued that a law in effect at the time required the jury, not the judge, to decide whether a life sentence should be imposed.
Yesterday, some 200 Boston police officers standing in the cold rain lined both sides of the street outside the federal courthouse and saluted Cynthia Hurley as she arrived with her four children, three Boston police officers, and an FBI secretary.
"They have no idea how much that meant to me," said Hurley, who hadn't expected such an overwhelming show of support. "I cried, because it reminded me of Jerry's funeral."
Boston Police Commissioner Edward F. Davis was among those who later packed the courtroom.
The hearing was emotional, as Foley and Hurley's daughter, Officer Leanne Teehan of the Boston police, took the witness stand and urged the judge to keep Trenkler behind bars for life.
Foley, who lost an eye during the blast and was never able to return to his police job, said that Trenkler spent weeks painstakingly constructing the bomb, intending to kill Shay.
"I consider him a terrorist, and I consider him a coward," Foley said.
Struggling to hold back tears, Teehan turned to Trenkler and told him that her father suffered more than eight hours before he died and that their family members, who never had a chance to say goodbye to him, have suffered ever since. "What I need now is for you to stand up and be a man and assume responsibility for what you did," she said.
When invited by the judge to speak, Trenkler said only: "I just wanted to take the time to thank your honor for bringing me back for resentencing. Thank you."
Trenkler's lawyer, Joan M. Griffin, argued the judge was obligated to sentence Trenkler to no more than 10 years in prison because jurors never made a finding that he intended to kill anyone. She said Trenkler, who wears a pacemaker, isn't receiving adequate care in the federal prison where he is confined.
Assistant US Attorney James F. Lang argued that the judge had the authority to sentence Trenkler to life based on the jury's verdict. Trenkler, he said, "is among the worst of the worst criminals."
The office of US Attorney Michael J. Sullivan twice failed to address court orders seeking its response to the motion by Trenkler's lawyers to throw out his life sentence. Sullivan issued a statement in February that called the lapse "unacceptable."
Yesterday Sullivan said he will seek approval to appeal . 