Witnesses relate dramatic search for trooper ambush suspect

By Marilyn Rosenthal
MILFORD — A regular white kitchen garbage bag contained some food, some empty plastic water bottles, and, most strikingly, three pages ripped from a notebook in which Eric Frein described, in step-by-step detail, the shooting of two troopers.
The items were laid out Monday before the jury, which heard witnesses describe the long manhunt for Frein and his capture after the 2014 ambush at the Blooming Grove state police barracks. The first witness called by the prosecution, forensic Trooper James Hitchcock, described what he found about 100 miles south of the campsite Frein allegedly used as police searched for him through the woods of Pike and Monroe Counties.
The diary was well-written and contemplative given the alleged circumstances, that the writer was under pressure, running from the law. Hitchcock found the pages rumpled and slightly soiled from having been wet.
The first page described the shooting of a trooper at the barracks, the presence of a woman, and the shooting of the second trooper.
The second page described the escape. "Ran back to jeep, hit a road block, pulled into a development I knew had a half–finished access road," it said.
"Disaster!"
A jeep allegedly belonging to Frein was found stuck in a pond.
The prosecution glanced over the third page. Defense Attorney Michael Weinstein intervened.
"What about the other items in the bag?" Weinstein asked. "Were they sent to the lab? What about the bag itself?"
Hitchcock said his job was to collect the evidence, and that the investigative team was responsible for sending it to the lab.
Frightened communitiesDeputy Commissioner of Operations George L. Bivens coordinated the many agencies from across the country that aided in hunt for Frein. He described its huge scope: troopers from New York, New Jersey, Virginia, and Maryland joined the search, as did federal officers from the Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Marshals from the U.S. Justice Department, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), which put Frein on its "10 Most Wanted List." Federal SWAT teams and local versions of these teams were deployed. In all, some 1,000 law officers came to help.
Bivens said the search frightened local residents.
"Communities had a self-imposed lock-down," he said. "Children were not playing outside, and the schools did not let the kids go out for recess. The Game Commission closed all state game lands for hunting in Pike and Monroe counties."
He said the rugged terrain and thick underbrush in the woods made this central part of the search more difficult. Searches from the air, even using high-tech equipment, weren't useful since it was almost impossible to see beneath the underbrush. Additionally, the troopers were concerned they might be under attack from other snipers.
A figure spotted in the grassThe team that captured Frein included U.S. Marshal Scott Malkowski, the "cover officer," or point man, who led U.S. Marshall John Wesley Schaaf and another marshal to the defunct Birchwood-Pocono Airpark in Monroe County. There were several abandoned buildings and an open hanger.
Malkowski saw a male figure wearing a black hat and a black jacket walking in the high grass in front of him. Malkowski immediately identified himself, rifle in hand.
"Police, U.S. Marshals!" he said. "Get on the ground!"
Malkowski then asked, "What's your name?"
The man said, "Eric Frein."
Schaaf quickly handcuffed Frein while Malkowski held his boot on the back of Frein's head to make sure he couldn't run, a standard procedure used by U.S. Marshals.
They asked Frein if he had any weapons, and he said, "Just a pocket knife."
The officers were soon joined by several others. They searched Frein three different times, and cut off his tall boots. His outer pair of pants were held up by a nylon rope.
According to Malkowski, Frein asked, "Can I tell where the guns are in the hanger? There are two rifles upstairs and a loaded pistol on the first floor."
Durng cross-examination, Defense Attorney Weinstein asked, "Do you recall that after Eric told you where the guns were in the Hanger, he said, 'I want to tell you this because I don't want kids to find it'?"
Editor's note: This article has been updated from the original to correct the spelling of George Bivens' name.