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April 26 (UPI) -- Pennsylvania's highest court on Friday upheld the death sentence of a man who ambushed two state troopers, killing one, in 2014. The state Supreme Court voted 5-2, saying evidence in the case supported the first-degree murder conviction and death penalty for Eric Frein.
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A jury convicted Frein in 2017 for the murder of Pennsylvania State Police Cpl. Bryon K. Dickson II and the shooting of trooper Alex Douglass at a state police barracks in Blooming Grove. He then led authorities on a 48-day manhunt.
He was also convicted on charges of aggravated assault of a law enforcement officer, terrorism, using a weapon of mass destruction, possessing an instrument of crime, recklessly endangering others and firing a gun into an occupied structure.
In the appeal, Frein's lawyers said his counsel during his first trial violated his right to remain silent when they allowed the jury to view a video of the defendant talking to law enforcement after his capture.
During his initial trial, prosecutors described Frein as an anti-government survivalist.
Despite the Pennsylvania Supreme Court's ruling, Frein may not face the death penalty anytime soon. Gov. Tom Wolf placed a moratorium on executions in the state in 2015 pending the results of a report on the punishment.
