Who is Fred Weichel? 'Innocent' man framed by Whitey Bulger, to receive $33M for spending 36 years in jail
BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS: The man who served 36 years in prison for murder has been awarded $33 million by a jury on Tuesday, October 18. The now-free man claims that he was falsely accused of the crime by notorious Boston mobster Whitey Bulger. Fred Weichel was arrested in 1980 for the murder of Robert Lamonica in Braintree before being released in 2017. According to his lawyer, Weichel won a civil suit against the state, with jurors ruling that he should receive $33 million from the state of Massachusetts.
Weichel was freed in 2017 after it was revealed that a police report indicating that another person may have committed the crime had not been handed over to the police. Since his imprisonment, Weichel has continued to insist on his innocence and claimed that Bulger double-crossed him and made him the scapegoat in a 2002 jailhouse interview with Boston 25's Bob Ward. According to Massachusetts state law, the maximum monetary award is $1 million; however, Weichel will probably receive more for fees and legal expenses.