Doctor testifies about trooper wounded in sniper ambush

MILFORD, PA. >> The doctor who worked on a critically wounded Pennsylvania trooper described his life-saving efforts during testimony Thursday at the trial of a survivalist sniper accused of shooting the trooper and killing another one in the 2014 attack.

Dr. Mohammad Siddiqui said Trooper Alex Douglass had internal bleeding and organ damage from the shooting, allegedly perpetrated by 33-year-old Eric Frein.

Douglass will testify when the trial resumes next week, according to prosecutors, who say the trooper has undergone 18 surgeries and will likely require more.

Douglass was wounded when Frein allegedly fatally shot Cpl. Bryon Dickson outside their barracks in the Pocono Mountains.

Frein was captured after a 48-day manhunt that covered more than 300 square miles of the mountains.

Earlier Thursday, a handwriting expert testified that Frein was the author of a journal describing the ambush and the subsequent manhunt.

The expert, state police Cpl. Mark Gardner, told jurors the handwriting on three crumpled notebook pages that police found in a trash bag near Eric Frein’s campsite was a match to the defendant.

The journal described how the gunman “got a shot around 11 p.m. and took it,” watching one of his victims fall “still and quiet.”

Another prosecution witness, U.S. Secret Service document analyst Julia Barker, testified the notebook pages had the same physical characteristics and chemical composition as a notebook found in the abandoned airplane hangar where Frein was captured.

The notebook contained a journal of Frein’s movements and daily activities while he eluded the rural dragnet.

Frein faces a potential death sentence if convicted. He has pleaded not guilty to charges that include homicide of a law enforcement officer and terrorism.