‘Help me protect my dad’
Victims’ kin urge judge to deny Hub bomber’s release
The son of the Boston Bomb Squad officer who survived a 1991 explosion that killed his partner wept on Thursday as he begged a federal judge to keep one of the two perpetrators locked up.
“My dad was a big, strong man; and now he’s a weak, scared man,” said Boston Firefighter Frank Foley, the son of Francis Foley, who lost an eye and his partner, Jeremiah Hurley, in the Roslindale blast. “My father is afraid of evil people now. … He barricades his bedroom door. … He doesn’t know this (hearing) is going on. … I implore you: Help me protect my dad.”
Amy Barsky, one of Alfred Trenkler’s three attorneys, asked Judge William Smith to release him out of compassion, casting doubt on his culpability and arguing that he has a heart condition and could die of COVID-19 in prison.
“We believe very deeply the government has the wrong man,” said Barsky, whose co-counsel includes former federal judge Nancy Gertner. “A man’s life is on the line.”
Trenkler is 65, overweight, a former smoker, has hypertension and was too scared to be vaccinated — all factors that make him more likely to die if he contracts the coronavirus, she said.
But Boston Police Officer Leeanne Teehan, one of Hurley’s four children, said Trenkler deserved no compassion.
“My family and I are furious that after 24-plus years, we are back here again to fight for justice for my father,” Teehan said. “First, how is it OK to take advantage of a worldwide pandemic to try to keep this man out of pris
on? My family and I firmly believe that former federal judge Nancy Gertner and her million-dollar team of experts are using their power and their influence to get this defendant out of prison. … We beg you to see the unfairness and the loss in our lives.”
Trenkler was sentenced to life in a Tucson, Ariz., prison in 1994 for planting the explosive that left Hurley dead and maimed Foley for life.
He was convicted with another man, Thomas Shay Jr., of planting a remotecontrolled bomb containing at least two sticks of dyna
mite, while the intended target, Thomas Shay Sr., escaped injury.
Trenkler and Thomas Shay Jr. were lovers, authorities have said. They alleged that Shay wanted to kill his
father to retaliate for abuse and cash in on insurance money.
Smith said he expects to make a decision in the coming weeks about whether to release Trenkler.