Frein's parents tell jury about family dysfunction

By Marilyn Rosenthal
MILFORD — Eric Frein's parents testified Monday in an effort by defense lawyers to spare him the death penalty.
"Mitigating circumstances give the jury an opportunity to see the real Eric Frein and the circumstance under which he lived," said Michael Weinstein, as he called witness who described a dysfunctional household.
(Eugene) Michael Frein told the jury that he "failed Eric as a father."
"I thought he was a slow starter," he said. "I never expected anything like this."
Michael Frein said he lived a lie from the time he had married Eric's mother until fairly recently. He told his wife and children and anyone who would listen that he was a war hero, a sniper with three tours in Vietnam. Eric looked up to him.
Michael Frein lost his job and had a drinking problem. He also had some very strong ideas about the role of the government and the police.
"The more they become like the military, the more they become like an army, and this country already has an army," he said.
It was also revealed that Eric had some learning disabilities and couldn't read until he was in the sixth grade.
"Eric always saw things differently," his father said.
Eric Frein's mother, Debbie Frein, gave some very emotional testimony. She depicted her son as a loner and told of trouble in her marriage. She said Eric lied about going to college and lied about having a job, quite similar to the lies of his father.
Isn't that a long time to keep up a lie? the prosecution asked.
She struck back, loudly, "Not if you're delusional."
Defense lawyers showed photos of Eric as a Cub Scout and with his older brother.
"They made him out to be a monster," Debbie Frein said. "That's not what he's like. That's not the same person we know. They used to call him the gentle giant."
She said Eric had a learning disability, dyslexia, and that a neuropsychiatrist said something was wrong with his frontal lobe.
The district attorney, Ray Tonkin, countered, "Wouldn't you expect that neuropsychiatrist to testify in court?"
Debbie Frein said, "You said it wasn't allowed in the very beginning."
She stood her ground, crying, as the prosecutor continued his questioning.
"What if you were kicked out of your house at 2 a.m. and people were shooting questions at you?" she said . "I can't remember."
Tonkin objected to the testimony given by expert witness Louise Luck, an investigator who offers mitigating factors for the defense in capital trials.
"Did Louise Luck tell you how to testify today?" Tonkin asked Debbie Frein. "Did she tell you to make Eric human? How does the Dickson family go on?" He referred to the family of Cpl. Bryon Dickson II, who died in Frein's shooting ambush of the state police barracks in Blooming Grove.
"They have closure," Debbie Frein said. "I'm not saying that their life will be easy, but we will never have closure."
The judge has not yet ruled on a motion Tonkin made to preclude Luck's testimony, which Tonkin called "simply a ruse."
A childhood friend described Eric Frein's dysfunctional household. He and Eric were both computer nerds and "geeks," he said. Eric didn't have many friends, but these two stuck together because they were not in the popular group.
Another friend from Boy Scout Camp said Eric had helped him when they were both counselors, and that he was good when teaching kids working toward their rifle shooting merit badge.
"Eric was patient and was never delusional in that context," he said.
Suicide watchAt the start of the day, Weinstein told the court that Frein has been depressed since the guilty verdict was handed down last week, and with it the reality that he faces the death penalty.
Frein is on suicide watch, Weinstein said. He would not talk nor eat, and was deprived of sleep for six or seven days. He described Frein as "non-functioning...and not able to participate in his own defense."
He had to be brought to court in a wheelchair, Weinstein said.
Frein entered the courtroom unshaven and without a tie, held up tightly by two deputies. He seemed weak as the deputies sat him in the chair. Yet, he was able to stand and pour himself some water at the defense table.
Tonkin objected to the defense team's request for a psychiatric evaluation. He called a witness from the Pike County Correctional Facility who testified to an audio reproduction of a monitored phone call Frein made to his mother from the facility just two days before, in which Frein criticized his defense team for "not questioning anything."
Outside the courtroom, Tonkin said, "I think it is clear from the phone call that he understood perfectly what's going on with the roles of the attorneys and the judge. I believe he is acting."
Judge Gregory Chelak denied the motion for a psychiatric evaluation.