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Prosecutors Seek Death Penalty Against Alleged Cop Killer Eric Frein

Pike County District Attorney Ray Tonkins announced that he would seek the death penalty against Eric Frein, accused of shooting two cops last year.
Image:
Eric Frein, charged with murder of Pennsylvania State Trooper Cpl. Byron Dickson and critically wounding Trooper Alex Douglass Sept. 10, is taken to prison after a preliminary hearing in Pike County Courthouse on Oct. 31, in Milford, Pa.Michael J. Mullen / The Scranton Times-Tribune via AP

Pennsylvania authorities plan to seek the death penalty against Eric Frein, the man charged with shooting two state troopers in a Sept. 12 ambush and then spending 48 days hiding in the woods from police.

Pike County District Attorney Ray Tonkin's office filed paperwork Tuesday and said it would outline its intentions in a court appearance Thursday, with Frein, 31, linked by video from jail.

One of the troopers, Cpl. Bryon Dickson, was killed in the attack, and the other, Trooper Alex Douglass, was wounded. The manhunt for Frein, which drew hundreds of police and reportedly cost authorities $11 million, put the residents of Pike and Monroe Counties on edge for nearly two months. Frein was eventually captured outside an abandoned airport hangar in Tannersville, about 90 miles north of Philadelphia.

Image:
Eric Frein, charged with murder of Pennsylvania State Trooper Cpl. Byron Dickson and critically wounding Trooper Alex Douglass Sept. 10, is taken to prison after a preliminary hearing in Pike County Courthouse on Oct. 31, in Milford, Pa.Michael J. Mullen / The Scranton Times-Tribune via AP

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—Jon Schuppe