Santiago found guilty
in Officer Trench murder case

By Tom Waring
Times Staff Writer

Police officer Thomas Trench was murdered on the day after Memorial Day in 1985, and his family found it fitting that his killer was convicted 23 years later on the day after the same holiday.
A jury of six men and six women last week convicted Wilfredo Santiago of first-degree murder and possessing an instrument of crime.
"My father can finally find peace," said Annemarie Bachmayer, the officer’s oldest daughter and wife of Capt. Frank Bachmayer, commander of the 15th Police District.
Jury selection began on April 28. Testimony started two days later, with closing arguments taking place on May 19. The jury rendered its verdict on May 27.
Santiago, 44, will serve a mandatory sentence of life in prison with no chance of parole.
Common Pleas Court Judge Renee Cardwell Hughes also sentenced him to 2-1/2 to 5 years in prison for possessing an instrument of crime. Those sentences are to be served consecutively.
Santiago has been in prison since 2003, sentenced to 21 to 42 years in prison for an aggravated assault conviction related to a domestic disturbance on Souder Street in Castor Gardens.
Trench, 43, was an 11-year veteran who was married with two teenage daughters at the time of his death. He lived at 3310 Ashville St. in Mayfair.
The officer, assigned to the 9th Police District, was shot to death in the early morning of May 28, 1985, as he sat in his patrol car on 17th Street between Spring Garden and Brandywine streets.
Santiago was arrested and convicted of first-degree murder in 1986. He was sentenced to life in prison.
However, the state Superior Court in 1991 ordered a retrial after determining that the trial judge had committed misconduct.
In 1992, Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled that police had questioned Santiago without a lawyer and that the judge had suppressed evidence. Bail was set, and Santiago walked out of Holmesburg Prison a free man.
Later that year, a Common Pleas Court judge found that there had been prosecutorial misconduct at the trial and barred a retrial.
In 1994, Superior Court reversed that decision and allowed a new trial. It took 14 years for attorneys and the courts to settle on a new date.
Attorneys Bruce Franzel and Tom McGill, who represented Santiago in his first trial, were back at the defense table. They were joined by David Rudovsky.
The defense based its case on a lack of eyewitnesses, blood, DNA, fingerprints and a murder weapon.
Defense attorneys also mentioned threats made against police by the radical group MOVE, which was angry that the city dropped a bomb on its West Philadelphia headquarters 15 days before Trench’s murder. The bomb caused a fire that killed six adults and five children.
"The jury did not believe that," Frank Bachmayer said of the defense suggestion that MOVE killed Trench.
Assistant District Attorney Carlos Vega, who was assisted by colleague Bridget Kirn, said afterward that his strongest evidence included eyewitnesses who saw Santiago with a gun before the murder and saw him in the area of the crime scene after the murder was committed.
Other witnesses testified that Santiago vowed revenge on the officer — Ismael Cruz — who chased him after a neighborhood fight and later got into an altercation with his family members and friends.
Cruz worked in car 912 from 4 p.m. to midnight on May 27, 1985. Trench used the same car when his shift started at midnight.
The defense argued that Santiago wouldn’t kill a police officer for only chasing, but not arresting, him.
Vega also counted on the testimony of three jailhouse informants who said Santiago told them he killed Trench. The defense countered that the inmates were looking for early release in exchange for their testimony.
A correctional officer trainee also testified that Santiago threatened to kill him "like I killed that f——— cop."
After the verdict, Hughes noted that Santiago had rejected a plea to third-degree murder because the sentence would not be concurrent with the time he is serving for aggravated assault.
The judge called it "exceedingly compelling" that Santiago was convicted of a violent crime while he was out on bail for the murder charge. She also noted his "unwillingness to accept responsibility."
Rudovsky, citing what he called "legal errors" in the case, said the defense would appeal.
"Mr. Santiago continues to proclaim his innocence," he said.
Vega said he expects the defense to appeal until Santiago dies of old age in prison, but he believes the jury made the right decision.
"The evidence was strong and compelling," he said.
The prosecutor said it was a bittersweet outcome, since a conviction will not bring back the slain officer. He does sense that the end of the trial is a relief for the family.
"Finally, they can move on," he said.
Frank and Annemarie Bachmayer joined other family members and Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 5 president John McNesby at a news conference at FOP headquarters at 1336 Spring Garden St., four blocks from the murder scene.
Others in attendance were Carol Trench, the officer’s daughter; Bernadette Fredericks, his sister; and Christine O’Connell and Susan Fredericks, his nieces.
The officer’s widow, Mary Anne Trench Haggerty, did not attend the trial.
The family thanked the police and civilian witnesses, the judge and the jury. Frank Bachmayer referred to jurors as "those twelve faces we will never forget."
"We thank the jury for doing the right thing," he said.
The family was also grateful to the FOP and the sheriff’s office, along with District Attorney Lynne Abraham, Vega, Kirn and retired prosecutor Hugh Colihan, who handled the case in some earlier stages.
Annemarie Bachmayer said her family will stand behind the families of other officers who have been murdered. She hopes Santiago has had his final day in court, but adds that her family is ready for any appeal.
"We’ll be back," she said. ••
Reporter Tom Waring can be reached at 215-354-3034 or twaring@phillynews.com