MILFORD, Pa. (AP) - The Latest on the trial of a survivalist charged with ambushing two troopers at a Pennsylvania state police barracks (all times local):
6:45 p.m.
The governor of Pennsylvania is applauding the guilty verdict against a survivalist who ambushed two troopers at a state police barracks, killing one.
Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf says “justice was served” Wednesday when a jury convicted Eric Frein (freen) of first-degree murder and other counts in the 2014 attack. He says the verdict means “a brutal murderer will be held accountable for his heinous and cowardly acts.”
Frein led authorities on a 48-day manhunt through the rugged Pocono Mountains before he was captured. Uncontested evidence of his guilt was presented at trial.
Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty against Frein, who killed Cpl. Bryon Dickson II and seriously injured Trooper Alex Douglass.
Defense lawyer Bill Ruzzo says he’ll appeal to jurors to spare Frein’s life.
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6 p.m.
A prosecutor says he will be seeking “full justice” for a Pennsylvania survivalist convicted of capital murder in the ambush slaying of a state trooper.
Pike County District Attorney Ray Tonkin spoke to reporters after Wednesday’s verdict finding Eric Frein guilty of all 12 charges, including murder of a law enforcement officer and terrorism.
Tonkin is seeking the death penalty.
Frein’s attorney, Bill Ruzzo, says he will be trying to save his client’s life. He says the defense team “can’t make him a holy man” but they’re “trying to make him a man.”
The penalty phase of Frein’s trial begins Thursday.
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5:25 p.m.
A Pennsylvania survivalist who hid in the forest under cover of night and opened fire with a sniper’s rifle has been convicted of capital murder in the ambush slaying of a state police trooper he targeted at random.
A jury convicted 33-year-old Eric Frein (freen) on Wednesday following a two-week trial in northeastern Pennsylvania.
Authorities say Frein was trying to spark a revolution when he attacked the Blooming Grove state police barracks on Sept. 12, 2014. Cpl. Bryon Dickson was killed, and a second trooper was shot through the hips and left debilitated.
The jurors found him guilty of all 12 charges, including murder of a law enforcement officer, terrorism and two weapons of mass destruction counts related to bombs he left in the woods while eluding a 48-day police dragnet.
He faces a potential death sentence.
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1:30 p.m.
Jurors are deliberating the case against a survivalist who killed a Pennsylvania state police trooper and critically wounded a second trooper in a 2014 ambush at their rural barracks.
The outcome of Eric Frein’s trial is not in doubt. The defense offered no evidence or testimony and conceded the government’s overwhelming case for conviction.
If the 33-year-old is convicted of first-degree murder, the defense will shift its focus to trying to persuade the jury to spare his life.
Prosecutors presented more than 500 pieces of evidence tying Frein to the attack. District Attorney Ray Tonkin says Frein was a terrorist and a cold-blooded killer who was “literally hunting humans” when he opened fire on the Blooming Grove barracks Sept. 12, 2014.
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11:45 a.m.
Jurors have heard closing arguments in the trial of a survivalist charged with ambushing two troopers at a Pennsylvania State Police barracks.
Pike County District Attorney Ray Tonkin called Eric Frein (freen) a “terrorist” who targeted police in an attempt to spark a revolution.
Tonkin is seeking the death penalty.
Frein’s attorney, Michael Weinstein, conceded to the jury Wednesday that prosecutors have offered a “mountain of evidence” pointing to his client’s guilt.
Cpl. Bryon Dickson II was killed and Trooper Alex Douglass was critically wounded in the 2014 attack.
Frein eluded capture for 48 days before U.S. marshals arrested him at an abandoned airplane hangar.
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