Lower Merion F.O.P. Remembers Fallen Officer On The Anniversary Of His Slaying
President Layton and the Members of FOP Lodge 28 remember Officer Edward Michael Setzer of Lower Merion Township Police that gave the ultimate sacrifice protecting his fellow citizens on Friday, September 30, 1988. Officer Setzer was 37 and was married with three children. pic.twitter.com/dNyHwHoUvP
— LM FOP Lodge 28 (@LMFOP28) September 30, 2020
On the morning of October 1, 1988, the Philadelphia Daily News reported:
A Lower Merion Township policeman was shot through the heart and killed while struggling with a burglary suspect yesterday, police said.
An intensive manhunt was launched for the unknown killer.
Edward Setzer, who normally worked at a desk, was killed yesterday while struggling with a burglary suspect in Gladwyne shortly after 10 a.m. yesterday, police said.
From the Inquirer, October 1, 1988
How they caught the killer
The only lead police had was a description of a car and a partial license plate – 977-44 or 987-44. But that was turning up nothing. Then, as the Inquirer reported on October 14, 1988 –
A Phildadelphia cop named Robert McGee was driving his patrol car “when a passing license plate caught his eye. It containted the letter ‘B.’ He started searching the files and found a tag #9B7449.”
When McGee and other officers went to the home of Kendall Hatfield, they found the car with that license tag, and it matched the description of the car they were searching for.
Claimed it was an accident
Hatfield’s lawyer argued that the death of Setzer was a tragic accident, but the jury didn’t buy it. He was convicted of first degree murder and sentenced to life in prison.