Posted on 10/13/2014 12:39:50 PM PDT by Tamzee
This isn’t the first time Eric Matthew Frein fled to avoid prosecution.
The Canandensis man suspected of gunning down two Pennsylvania state troopers was set to go to trial in Schuyler County, New York on theft charges on April 6, 2006. But when the case was called, it was learned he had fled — possibly to the very same woods police say he has now taken refuge as he continues to elude the massive manhunt.
The decision to skip his New York trial cost Frein 109 days in jail for a charge the prosecutor in the case, Matthew Hayden, said likely would have resulted in probation and a restitution order had he just showed up.
“He did a chunk of time for a guy with no criminal record,” Hayden said in an interview Tuesday. “Had he paid restitution and accepted responsibility, he may not have gotten any jail.”
Having been deemed a fugitive, Frein was ordered to be held in jail pending disposition of the theft charges, which were lodged against him for stealing World War II clothing from a vendor at a re-enactment in Odessa, New York on Sept. 11, 2004.
He’s now the sole suspect in the Sept. 12 ambush shooting that killed Cpl. Bryon K. Dickson II and wounded Trooper Alex T. Douglass outside the state police barracks in Blooming Grove. Police have been combing the woods near his home for 18 days.
Authorities say Frein, 31, has a long-held disdain for police. They have not said whether they believe the theft charges fueled that grudge, although paperwork related to the case was found on his night stand when police searched the home he shared with his parents.
(snip)
(Excerpt) Read more at citizensvoice.com ...
From the article - years of petty theft from war re-enactment vendors, finally caught in 2004 and charged when he stupidly tried to resell items on ebay, then friend ratted him out. Failed to appear in court, became fugitive from justice in NY and PA, hid out in the same woods he is in now for several days before father convinced him to turn himself in, served approximately 3 months in prison....
He was an east European military enthusiast. An odd hobby considering that most of those were nazi partisans..
Typical. Few start their criminal careers by killing cops.
This was his old myspace page before either the police or family took it down. His website photo was of him standing in Belgrade, Serbia and it showed he was a fan Che Guevara, the Russian Red Army rifle 13th Guard, and the “Butcher of Bosnia” Radovan Karadzic (currently imprisoned by the International Criminal Tribunal for war crimes and mass murder) ...
Hmmm. A communist partisan, then..
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