Police ambush killer won’t take stand in bid to spare life

FILE – In this Jan. 5, 2015, file photo, Eric Frein is led away by Pennsylvania State Police Troopers at the Pike County Courthouse after his preliminary hearing in Milford, Pa. Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty against Frein, who they said targeted state police because he was trying to foment an uprising against the government. Frein’s lawyers want the jury to sentence him to life without parole. (Butch Comegys/The Times & Tribune via AP, File)

MILFORD, Pa. (AP) — The gunman who ambushed two Pennsylvania State Police troopers at their barracks in 2014 won’t take the stand to try to persuade jurors to spare his life.

Eric Frein (freen) decided Tuesday he won’t testify at the penalty phase of his capital murder trial, and the defense rested its case.

Prosecutors will call rebuttal witnesses Tuesday afternoon. The jury is expected to begin deliberations on Wednesday on whether to sentence Frein to death or to life in prison without parole.

Frein was convicted last week of killing Cpl. Bryon Dickson II and critically wounding Trooper Alex Douglass at their barracks in northeastern Pennsylvania. He was captured after a 48-day manhunt.

Earlier Tuesday, his sister, Tiffany Frein, told jurors Eric was her “protector” against their abusive parents.