Frein’s death penalty upheld

FRITZ MAYER
Posted 5/1/19

HARRISBURG, PA — The Pennsylvania Supreme Court on April 26 upheld the murder conviction and death sentence handed to convicted cop killer Eric Frein. In the fall of 2014, Frein ambushed a …

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Frein’s death penalty upheld

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HARRISBURG, PA — The Pennsylvania Supreme Court on April 26 upheld the murder conviction and death sentence handed to convicted cop killer Eric Frein. In the fall of 2014, Frein ambushed a Pennsylvania State Police station in Blooming Grove, resulting in the death of Cpl. Bryon Dickson II and the serious wounding of Trooper Alex Douglas.

After the shooting, Frein led police on a 48-day manhunt, in which about 1,000 police officers and law enforcement personnel participated.

Justice Debra Todd wrote the decision that was supported by five of the court’s seven judges. Todd summed up some of the evidence presented at the trial. “The Commonwealth presented at trial expert testimony that the bullets that fatally wounded Corporal Dickson were fired from a Norinco rifle which belonged to [Frein], and which was later recovered from the airplane hangar where [Frein] had been hiding following the shooting; indeed, upon his capture, [Frein] directed police to the location of the rifle. The expert testimony also established that Frein’s DNA was on the Norinco rifle. The Commonwealth further introduced evidence that Frein had conducted internet searches for possible targets, including the Blooming Grove police barracks, and response procedures for when officers are shot, in the days leading up to the shootings of Corporal Dickson and Trooper Douglass. Finally, the Commonwealth presented three notebook pages written by [Frein] describing the shooting of Corporal Dickson, as well as a notepad detailing [Frein’s] six-week effort to avoid capture. In the case, the evidence presented by the Commonwealth, and the reasonable inferences deduced there from, clearly demonstrate that [Frein], acting with malice and the specific intent to kill, caused the death of Corporal Dickson, thus supporting the jury’s verdict of first-degree murder.”

While the court said the death penalty was justified, Frein will not be facing it any time soon because Gov. Tom Wolf placed a moratorium on the death penalty in 2015, which remains in place. Wolf said the state’s death penalty process was “drawn out, expensive and painful for all involved.”

news, death penalty, harrisburg, Pennsylvania, murder conviction, pennsylvania supreme court

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