Eric Frein Caught in Pennsylvania

Death penalty eyed for Eric Frein, suspect in Pa. trooper ambush, after arrest

Eric Frein, the suspect in the deadly ambush of a Pennsylvania state trooper, was taken into custody after a seven-week manhunt, the Pennsylvania State Police announced Thursday night.

Prosecutors will seek the death penalty for Frein, as he is facing multiple capital offenses:  first-degree murder, murder of a law enforcement official and first-degree attempted murder. Frein is also facing various other charges including two counts of possession of weapons of mass destruction after police found pipe bombs during their search.

U.S. Marshals arrested Frein in an airport hangar near Buck Hill, the same general area where they had been searching for him. They called him out and he surrendered without an incident. Frein was taken in good physical condition, officials said in a press conference late Wednesday night.

Police saw an individual they thought was Frein and they ordered him to surrender.

"He did not just give up because he was tired," state police Commissioner Frank Noonan said. "He gave up because he was caught."

Frein was held in the handcuffs of Trooper Bryon Dickson, the officer he allegedly killed
He was on the run for more than two months, eluding police consistently in wooded areas, which he was very familiar with. He also had plenty of places to hide in the wood as well, Noonan said.

Frein, 31, allegedly opened fire outside the Blooming Grove state police barracks on Sept. 12, killing Dickson, 38, and seriously wounding Trooper Alex Douglass, 31.

Frein belonged to a military re-enactor's group, playing the part of a Serbian solder. He had a small role in a 2007 movie about a concentration camp survivor and helped with props and historical references on a documentary about World War I.

The FBI named him to its 10 most wanted list.

Earlier this month, Pennsylvania State Police revealed information from a journal found in the woods in which Frein allegedly described shooting the state troopers. They also detailed campsites where Frein was believed to have hidden, cooking over small fires even as heavily armed police hunted him.

Police found pipe bomb booby traps and a gun resting against a tree, but had only had a handful of unconfirmed sightings of Frein.

"Got a shot around 11 p.m. and took it," Frein wrote on papers found by police. "He [Dickson] dropped. I was surprised at how quick."