Widow of PA Trooper Sue Parents of His Killer

The parents of convicted cop-killer Eric Matthew Frein were aware of and fostered their son’s disdain for law enforcement that led to his slaying of Pennsylvania State Police Cpl. Bryon K. Dickson II outside the Blooming Grove barracks three years ago, the officer’s widow alleges in a lawsuit.

Tiffany Dickson filed the survival and wrongful death action Thursday in Lackawanna County Court, seeking damages from Frein and his parents, Eugene M. and Deborah Frein of Canadensis, the Scranton Times-Tribune reports.

The lawsuit contends Eugene and Deborah Frein psychologically manipulated their son “into developing a strong dislike for the police and acting on that dislike” in carrying out his Sept. 12, 2014, ambush attack at the barracks.

Eric Frein, 34, was living with his parents when he shot and killed Bryon Dickson and seriously wounded Trooper Alex T. Douglass. He spent the next 48 days evading a massive manhunt in Pike and Monroe counties before his capture outside an abandoned airport hangar in Pocono Twp.

The lawsuit contends Eugene and Deborah Frein supported their son financially and knew he was storing weapons, ammunition and other supplies that he subsequently used in his attack on the barracks and while evading police during the manhunt.