MIDLAND, Mich., March 2 -- Two skinhead teens wanted for the brutal slayings of their parents and younger brother in Pennsylvania were scheduled to be arraigned as adults on murder charges in Michigan Thursday. The suspects -- brothers described by authorities as 'savage' and 'cowardly' -- were arrested without incident Wednesday night after police traced them to an empty house in rural Hope Township, Mich., north of Midland. A skinhead friend of the brothers and a fourth man also were arrested. The fugitives, Bryan Freeman, 17, his brother David, 15, and Nelson Birdwell, 18, were discovered by Michigan State Police on a tip from police in Pennsylvania and Ohio. They were being held in the Midland County Jail pending arraignment in 75th District Court. 'They did not resist in any way,' said State Police Trooper James Bonnell. Police tracked down the Freemans and Birdwell after the suspects made a phone call to a friend in Hope Township from an Ohio motel. They had stopped in Ohio while fleeing the scene of Monday's murders outside Allentown, Pa., police said. David Freeman has the Nazi salute 'Seig Heil' tattooed on his forehead. Bryan Freeman and Birdwell both have the word 'Berserker' tattooed on their foreheads. At the arrest scene, Michigan police seized the 1988 Pontiac Sunbird that belonged to the slain parents. Birdwell was being held for a Pennsylvania probation violation. A fourth man was arrested on a malicious destruction charge in Michigan's Upper Peninsula. Pennsylvania authorities were traveling to Midland and were expected to seek extradition of the Freemans and Birdwell on Thursday.
The Freemans were to be charged with murder in Pennsylvania, said Midland County Prosecutor Norman Donker. The friend of the Freemans who owns the empty house could be charged with harboring fugitives, he said. The house was under construction, and police said the Freemans, Birdwell and the two Michigan men were found inside with bags of groceries. Police had followed them to the unfinished house from another house they had staked out nearby. Reports identified the houses' owner as Ronald Hesse. Police said he met the Freemans at a skinhead gathering in the Detroit area. Pennsylvania State Police knew of the boys' friend and had asked Michigan authorities to search the house, Bonnell said. The Freeman brothers allegedly fled from Salisbury Township, Pa., 40 miles north of Philadelphia, where the murders occurred. The bodies of Dennis Freeman, 54, Brenda Freeman, 48, and their son, Eric, 11 were found inside their home by a relative. A coroner said all three had been stabbed and bludgeoned with blunt objects. The victims were Jehovah's Witnesses. Police said the vicitms' faith apparently clashed with the skinhead philosophy. Dennis Freeman, a high school custodian, and his son were found in separate bedrooms in the house. Brenda Freeman was found in the basement.
