Jurors who convicted in '93 ask judge to retry case

3 advocate for Trenkler, imprisoned in bombing

Alfred Trenkler was sentenced to life in prison.

For almost two decades, Alfred Trenkler and his family have tried unsuccessfully to get a new trial in the 1991 bombing that killed a Boston police officer, maimed another, and put Trenkler behind bars for life.

Now the convicted man has new and surprising advocates for his cause: three of the jurors who helped imprison him.

Swayed by a former lawyer who has written a book about the case, the jurors each have sent letters to the federal judge in charge of the case, pleading with her to grant Trenkler a new trial, if not to free him.

"After studying the many details of the Alfred W. Trenkler case I am convinced that he is innocent," the jury forewoman, Sheridan Kassirer, wrote US District Court Judge Rya W. Zobel. "I hope you will see to it that justice prevails and he is released."

The letters are the latest development in a complicated case that has taken several twists since Trenkler was convicted in 1993 of manufacturing a bomb that prosecutors said was meant for the father of Trenkler's lover, Thomas Shay, who was also implicated in the conspiracy. Instead, the bomb killed Officer Jeremiah J. Hurley Jr., a 50-year-old father of four, who tried to defuse it after it was found under Shay's father's car. Another officer, Francis X. Foley, lost his left eye and hearing in one ear and was forced to leave his job.

The jurors describe different reasons for their doubts, including the circumstantial nature of the evidence, the damning testimony of a former prisoner whose sentence was shortened after he testified, and their belief that investigators did not consider other suspects or consider other evidence strongly enough.

The letters, each a page long, were sent to Zobel at separate times in the last eight months and raise different points about what the jurors believe went wrong with the trial.

For Trenkler, his half-brother, and his 82-year-old stepfather, who recently hired a private investigator to find evidence that would clear his stepson's name, the letters offer hope for a new trial. But for Hurley's family, the letters present another obstacle to resolution of the case, which Trenkler has kept in the courts by repeatedly seeking to reduce his sentence or appeal the verdict.

"I'm so tired of this," said Hurley's widow, Cynthia, who often attends the funerals of police officers in recognition of the thousands who attended her husband's service. "I feel bad that these jurors have second thoughts because in my heart, I do believe that he's guilty. Let my poor husband rest in peace."

It is extremely rare for jurors to contact a judge and express doubt about the verdict, especially in a case so old, according to legal specialists.

"I think jurors take that job very seriously," said Matthew Machera, a former Suffolk County prosecutor. "To have three of them doubt their unanimous verdict and then after 20 years, that's almost unheard of. It's one thing if one juror writes, but if three separate jurors write, that is unbelievable."

But while some specialists said the letters should give the judge cause to pause, others said they doubt the letters would affect a judge's decision.

"The only way the court can act is if there were new evidence or if there was evidence that was not disclosed that should have been disclosed," said Ronald Sullivan, director of the Harvard Criminal Justice Institute. "Never say never. But it is highly, highly unlikely that there is any basis in law for the court to revisit that conviction."

Zobel declined to comment because she is still reviewing the case, according to an assistant in her office. In 2007, Trenkler said he had found new evidence that could free him, and as a result the US Court of Appeals ruled that Zobel could review the case. Boston police declined to comment. Foley, who occasionally advises departments on bomb detonation, declined to comment through his brother.

A spokeswoman for the US attorney's office also declined to comment.

In separate interviews, the jurors said they reconsidered their verdict after receiving a 700-page, unpublished manuscript from Morrison Bonpasse, a 61-year-old Maine man who built a website for Trenkler at his half-brother's request.

"It's an awesome responsibility to send someone to jail for such a long stint, but a review seems to be the least you can do," Kassirer said. "I didn't think he would change my mind, but he did, unfortunately."

Another juror, Marcia Lapson, said she was disturbed to read Bonpasse's assertion that there were fingerprints on the car, but that the jury had never been told to whom they belonged.

The third juror, Theresa Spinelli, said the book seemed to disprove the theory that a bomb Trenkler built in 1986 was similar to the 1991 bomb.

"I would like to see it investigated further," said Spinelli. "A Boston police officer was killed. Another Boston police officer was injured badly; it should be found out who indeed did it."

But according to the lead investigator in the bombing case, that has already been accomplished.

"Justice was done," said Miller Thomas, now president of the city's detectives union. "If you dissect anything, you can come up with any number of conclusions. Taken piece by piece you can probably convince someone that John Hinckley didn't shoot Ronald Reagan, even though it was televised."

The book, which Bonpasse has mailed to jurors, politicians, and police officers, relies on jailhouse interviews with Trenkler, news reports about the bombing, police reports, trial transcripts and other court documents to make the case that Trenkler and Shay were wrongly convicted. Shay served ten years, but was ordered back to prison for 33 months in 2007 because he violated the conditions of his release.

Bonpasse, who said he has not been paid by the Trenkler family, said he has spent thousands of hours looking into the case.

"I'm just appalled that the system is in fact very flawed," said Bonpasse, who lives in New Castle with his wife, a retired judge. "I'm appalled that the system is so slow and finds it so difficult to open its eyes and see what it's done to so many people."

Trenkler's stepfather, Jack Wallace, said the jurors' letters are just the first step in freeing Trenkler.

"I'm confident that we're going to get him out this year," Wallace said. "The truth will eventually come out. The truth always comes out."

Maria Cramer can be reached at mcramer@globe.com.