Judgment day nears for survivalist who killed Pa. officer
The sentencing hearing begins Thursday for the survivalist who sparked a massive, seven-week manhunt in the rugged mountains of northeastern Pennsylvania when he fatally shot one state trooper, seriously wounded another and then fled under cover of night.
A jury on Wednesday convicted Eric Frein, 33, on a dozen counts including first-degree murder in the death of Cpl. Bryon Dickson II, 38, outside the Blooming Grove barracks in September 2014. Frein was also convicted of attempted murder for shooting Trooper Alex Douglass, 33.
Now the jury will decide if Frein will be executed or spend the rest of his life in prison. The hearing could last a few days.
"We have a very serious and somber proceeding to go through," Pike County District Attorney Ray Tonkin said. "I hope the businesses here in the Poconos and all the residents take some solace that just has been done. We will be looking for full justice."
Frein shot the troopers from a distance with a high-powered rifle. His rambling writings indicated he hoped the shootings would inspire a violent, anti-government revolution that never materialized.
"Tension is high at the moment and the time seems right for a spark to ignite a fire in the hearts of men," Frein said in a letter written to his parents before his capture. "What I have done has not been done before and it felt like it was worth a try.
The barracks, not far from the borders of New York and New Jersey, sit on the edge of thousands of acres of state woodland in the Pocono Mountains. More than 1,000 law enforcement officers took part in the manhunt for Frein in and around communities enveloped in fear that he would strike again.
Frein ascended to the FBI's 10 Most Wanted list before he was finally nabbed by U.S. Marshals at a small, abandoned airport about 35 miles from the shooting scene. He was hauled away in Dickson's patrol car, wearing Dickson's handcuffs.
Frein's lawyer, William Ruzzo, said his client remains "the eternal optimist" heading into his life-or-death hearing.
"We have been preparing for it for over two years," Ruzzo said. "We are hoping to save Mr. Frein's life."