Eric Matthew Frein, one of the FBI's Ten Most Wanted, was captured yesterday, October 30, after a 48-day man-hunt through the woods of Pennsylvania's Pocono Mountains.
Frein is the main suspect in a September 12 shooting of two Pennsylvania State Police troopers. One of the troopers was killed, the other wounded.
Police captured Frein at 6:07 p.m. yesterday, ending a seven-week search for the man. Frein was captured at the Birchwood Pocono Airpark, 30 miles away from Blooming Grove, where the shootings took place.
Crowds watched today as police led Frein out of Pennsylvania's Pike County Courthouse, where he had just been arraigned. Frein, 31, faces charges of first-degree murder, attempted murder, and homicide of a law enforcement officer. Corporal Byron Dickson, 38, one of the men Frein is accused of shooting, died from gun wounds. The other, Trooper Alex Douglass, 31, was severely injured.
Frein also faces charges of unlawfully attempting to avoid prosecution after fleeing the police.
District Attorney Raymond Tonkin, one of the prosecutors on this case, said that he felt the Pennsylvania community felt a sense of comfort knowing that Frein has been captured. Tonkin said that he would try to get Frein the death penalty.
Reported sightings of Frein kept the community surrounding the Pocono Mountains on edge during the seven-week man-hunt.
"To see him just walk past me was just a sigh of relief that he's not in the woods, that everybody can continue on with their lives," said Jody Welsh, one of the onlookers as Frein was led out of the courthouse. Welsh said that she felt it was nerve-wracking not knowing where Frein was over the past few weeks.
In total, state police Lt. Col George Bivens estimated that the man-hunt cost upwards of $10 million.
Frein appeared to be healthy, aside from bruises on his face and a cut across his nose. He looked like he was well-fed, too. One police theory is that Frein hid food and other supplies in the woods ahead of time, planning his escape after the shootings.
Frein will be held without bail until a preliminary hearing, scheduled for November 12.
