Pa. Fugitive's Alleged Diary Scoffed at 2014 Manhunt

Eric Frein, sought for 48 days in cop killing, wrote of surprise at 'massive search': prosecutors
By Arden Dier,  Newser Staff
Posted Apr 13, 2017 7:53 AM CDT
Pa. Fugitive's Alleged Diary Scoffed at 2014 Manhunt
Eric Frein is escorted out of the Pike County Courthouse on Jan. 5, 2015.   (Mark Pynes/PennLive.com via AP)

"What I have done has not been done before, and it felt like it was worth a try," Eric Frein allegedly scrawled in a journal while evading capture following the shooting death of a Pennsylvania state trooper in 2014. That entry and others describing the journal writer breaking into a house to steal food or keeping tabs on the ensuing manhunt were read to a Pennsylvania jury during Frein's murder trial on Wednesday, reports the NBC News. The 33-year-old is accused of killing Cpl. Bryon Dickson II and critically injuring Trooper Alex Douglass outside the Blooming Grove barracks in Pike County on Sept. 12, 2014. The shooting spawned a 48-day manhunt before Frein was captured near an abandoned airplane hangar on Oct. 30.

"This massive search cannot last forever," an Oct. 4 entry reads. Days later, Frein allegedly wrote, "30 Days. A lot longer than I expected to last." The journal also details a revolution, asks Jesus Christ for mercy, describes people being just 100 yards away at one point, and scoffs at Frein's description in the media as a survivalist, reports the Allentown Morning Call. "HA! Catchy phrase, I guess," the journal reads. The entries were read a day after jurors saw a video in which Frein allegedly told police, "I did this. No one else did." Defense lawyers are appealing a ruling allowing the video to be used at trial, arguing it violated Frein's Miranda rights, per PennLive. Frein has pleaded not guilty to murder, terrorism, and other charges; he could face the death penalty. (The manhunt for Frein cost $11 million.)

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