‘Rambo’ killer who hid in woods sentenced to die
A SO-CALLED “Rambo” killer who escaped capture after shooting a police officer by hiding out in woods for seven weeks has been sentenced to death in Pennsylvania.
Eric Frein, a survivalist and military enthusiast, opened fire on a police barracks in the Pocono Mountains on September 12, 2014, killing police Corporal Bryon Dickson, a Marine veteran and married father of two, and critically wounding Trooper Alex Douglass.
Frien, 33, led police on a 48-day manhunt after the ambush and was classified as one of America’s most wanted criminals. A friend of the killer compared him to the Sylvester Stallone character Rambo in 1982 film First Blood.
A trial heard Frein kept a journal in which he coolly described shooting Mr Dickson twice and watching him fall “still and quiet”.
In a letter to his parents, written on the run but never sent, he complained of lost liberties, spoke of revolution and said: “The time seems right for a spark to ignite a fire in the hearts of men.” Prosecutors said Frein was a remorseless killer who attacked troopers at random in hope of starting a rebellion. The jury delivered a guilty verdict sentencing him to die by lethal injection.
“Jurors have delivered full justice in this case and issued the penalty that is so richly deserved by Eric Frein,” said district attorney Ray Tonkin.
The gunman is not expected to face execution for decades, if ever. Democratic governor Tom Wolf has imposed a moratorium on the death penalty.
Frein’s lawyers said they would launch an appeal.