Judge agrees to hear new evidence in Bulger associate's defense

(MyFoxBoston.com) -- Fred Weichel, an associate of James "Whitey" Bulger, has spent the last 33 years in prison for murder, and his defense attorneys say he didn't do it.

Currently he's serving life without parole. But recently, a judge has agreed to hear new evidence from the defense.
    
Attorneys say a Braintree police report, which surfaced in 2010, reveals that there was another suspect who may have been identified as the murderer. In 1980, Weichel was convicted for gunning down 25-year-old Robert LaMonica in 1980.
    
Now, a judge wants to learn more about the police report.

"It's a report that said someone else is identified as the murderer," said Weichel's defense attorney, Michael Ricciuti. "It was an escaped murderer who escaped the day before the murder and didn't come back from furlough."

The man, Ricciuti says, "was identified by 11 witnesses, 10 of them cops, correctional officers who identified the composite as this escaped murderer. That would have been incredibly important information for the defense to have for cross examination of the government's case."

Defense attorneys say they also have several letters from Whitey Bulger in jail stating Weichel didn't do it. According to Whitey's letters, he reportedly said it was a friend of Weichel's who confided to him about the murder. He wouldn't say who that friend was.

No date has been set for the new hearing.
    
LaMonica's family members were in court Monday and had no comment after the hearing, though one person told FOX 25's Jarrod Holbrook that "this is just another distraction."

Cox Media Group