The Latest: Governor believes ambush killer is 'monster'
By Associated Press
Apr 27, 2017 3:18 PM CDT
Eugene Michael Frein and his wife Deborah, parents of Eric Frein, who shot two Pennsylvania troopers, one fatally, walk to the offices of defense attorney Michael Weinstein, next to the Pike County Courthouse on Wednesday, April 26, 2017, in Milford, Pa. Frein was later sentenced to death for the killing...   (Associated Press)

MILFORD, Pa. (AP) — The Latest on the trial of a sniper who shot two Pennsylvania state troopers at their barracks (all times local):

4:15 p.m.

A spokesman says Democratic Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf believes a sniper who shot two state troopers at their barracks, killing one, is a "monster" and his death sentence shows justice has been served.

The spokesman says the governor's only sympathy lies with the family of the slain trooper, the injured trooper and "the men and women of the Pennsylvania State Police."

He made the comments Thursday shortly after a judge sentenced Eric Frein (freen) to death plus 97 to 194 years in prison. Frein was sentenced a day after a jury decided he should receive a lethal injection for the 2014 ambush in the Pocono Mountains.

Frein was convicted of killing Cpl. Bryon Dickson II and critically wounding Trooper Alex Douglass. His defense wanted a sentence of life in prison without parole.

Wolf has imposed a statewide moratorium on executions.

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3:20 p.m.

A gunman who shot two Pennsylvania troopers at their barracks, killing one, has been formally sentenced to death.

Judge Gregory Chelak on Thursday sentenced Eric Frein (freen) to death plus 97 to 194 years in prison. Frein was sentenced a day after a jury decided he should receive a lethal injection for the 2014 ambush in the Pocono Mountains.

He did not speak during his sentencing.

Frein was convicted of killing Cpl. Bryon Dickson II and critically wounding Trooper Alex Douglass.

The judge said the jury's sentencing decision was "entirely warranted."

He listened to statements given by Dickson's widow and mother, Douglass and a state police commissioner. Dickson's two young sons were in court for the first time.

Douglass spoke with the jury privately for several minutes before the sentencing and doled out hugs and handshakes.

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12:40 p.m.

The gunman who shot two Pennsylvania troopers at their barracks, killing one, has arrived at a courthouse to be formally sentenced to death.

A judge is scheduled to impose the death sentence on Eric Frein (freen) on Thursday after a jury decided he should receive a lethal injection for the 2014 ambush in the Pocono Mountains.

Frein killed Cpl. Bryon Dickson II and left Trooper Alex Douglass with permanent injuries.

Jurors deliberated more than four hours late Wednesday before giving Frein the death penalty.

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1:10 a.m.

The bell atop the Pike County Courthouse last tolled the fate of a condemned killer in the 1980s.

On Wednesday, it rang again.

Eric Frein (freen), the would-be revolutionary who shot two Pennsylvania troopers, one fatally, was sentenced to death late Wednesday.

The jury's decision that Frein should die by lethal injection brought a shout of "yes!" from a gallery that included high-ranking state police brass, the slain officer's mother and the trooper who suffered debilitating injuries after Frein shot him with a high-powered rifle.

District Attorney Ray Tonkin says the jury delivered a penalty that is "so richly deserved" by Frein.

His lawyers promise an appeal.

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