Ex-Dedham cop convicted in Avon kidnapping enters prison after failed appeal
DEDHAM − A former Dedham police officer has entered state prison almost 10 years after he took part in the kidnapping and murder of an Avon father.
Michael Schoener, 49, entered state prison on Thursday after the Supreme Judicial Court affirmed his conviction and the order denying his motion for postconviction relief on April 18.
Schoener was convicted by a jury in April 2019 of being an accessory before the fact of the kidnapping of 37-year-old James Robertson.
Schoener provided his police badge, gun holster and handcuffs to James Feeney, who gave those items to the two kidnappers – Scott Morrison and Alfred Ricci. The men posed as constables and took Robertson from his parents' home in Avon for a supposed probation drug test on Jan. 1, 2014. Robertson was taken to a garage in Canton and shackled and beaten to death. His body was found nearly two years later in woods in Upton.
Judge Robert C. Cosgrove sentenced Schoener to 6 to 9 years in state prison, more than the non-binding sentencing guidelines of 3½ to 5 years, but less than the maximum of 10 years. But Cosgrove stayed Schoener's sentence pending appeal at the request of his attorney, John Gibbons, and he was able to walk out of court in 2019.
On April 18, the Supreme Judicial Court upheld Schoener's conviction. The justices found the evidence was sufficient for a jury to find beyond a reasonable doubt that Schoener knowingly participated in the kidnapping by providing the items to Feeney. The justices also found that the judge's instructions to the jury were not erroneous and Cosgrove did not abuse his discretion in excluding certain statements made by Schoener.
"Schoener’s conviction for accessory before the fact was in April of 2019 but his sentence was stayed – over the Commonwealth’s objection – while his appeals were pending,” District Attorney Michael W. Morrissey said Thursday. "The appeals process was essentially exhausted when the Supreme Judicial Court upheld the conviction."
In October 2018, Feeney was convicted of first-degree murder, aggravated kidnapping and conspiracy. At the same time, Morrison was convicted of manslaughter, aggravated kidnapping and conspiracy.
Ricci, who was previously indicted on a murder charge, testified during the combined trial of Feeney and Morrison as a cooperating witness on behalf of the prosecution in exchange for an 8-year sentence.
Schoener used to purchase his drugs from Feeney, who masterminded the kidnapping plan. Robertson, at the time of the kidnapping, had recently started dating Feeney's ex-girlfriend. Feeney still sold drugs to that woman, as well as the other men involved in the kidnapping.
"This was a case that caused incredible hardship and pain for James Robertson’s parents, both of whom have since passed away," Morrissey said. "While I am relieved for the surviving family, I would have wished his parents to see the justice executed today.”
Enterprise senior reporter Cody Shepard can be reached at cshepard@enterprisenews.com.
This article originally appeared on The Enterprise: Ex-Dedham cop Schoener convicted in Avon kidnapping enters prison
