Pike County DA race spotlights alleged cop killer

Held without bail and facing the death penalty, Eric Frein has suddenly found himself in an unexpected spotlight: at the center of a political campaign.

In the mountainous Pennsylvania county where he allegedly ambushed two state troopers, killing one, and sparked a 48-day manhunt last year, Frein is now a prop in an unusually heated Republican primary race for district attorney. The winner will oversee his prosecution.

One candidate in Pike County is a well-connected family-law attorney with no experience as a prosecutor. The other is the two-term incumbent, whose campaign literature could jeopardize a capital case of international interest.

The battle has fractured the Republican Party in a close-knit Poconos county of 56,000 people.

Campaign mailings for the May 19 primary have featured Frein's bruised face. His defense attorney has a yard sign for the primary challenger. And the local chapter of the state troopers union - whose members were allegedly shot by Frein - has shunned the incumbent.

District Attorney Ray Tonkin recently mailed a flier featuring the photo of a battered Frein, taken the day after his arrest last October, to some of the county's 15,000 registered Republicans. Tonkin argues that only he can bring Frein to justice, because he has prosecuted murderers before.

But in court documents filed last week, Frein's defense lawyer contended that the flier could taint Pike County's jury pool.

Defense attorney Michael Weinstein was already expected to argue for a trial outside the area that Frein allegedly terrorized. But the flier gave the lawyer ammunition. In a motion last week, he asked a judge to forbid Tonkin from using Frein's name in campaign material.

Weinstein, meanwhile, has a sign in his yard that supports Kelly Gaughan, Tonkin's challenger. If she becomes district attorney, he could face off against her in court.

Weinstein said he is not taking sides in the race. He is a Democrat, and the party has no district attorney candidate. He said he sees no conflict of interest and has no intention of removing the sign, which his wife placed in his yard.

"If people think that I want to manipulate the D.A. race so that Eric Frein is prosecuted by someone other than Ray Tonkin, they're crazy," he said.

A Pike County Court judge has scheduled a hearing for next week regarding the mailer. Tonkin has hired his own lawyer to defend it.

"I believe that the voters of Pike County need to understand the vast difference in experience between myself and my opponent," he said. The flier is fair, he said, because it focused only on his experience and not the legal issues in the case.

In another twist, Gaughan was endorsed by the state police union's local chapter despite Tonkin's role as the tough-talking face of Frein's prosecution.

Tonkin's involvement in the case began with the September shooting at the Blooming Grove barracks and continued through the manhunt, led by state police. Tonkin filed the murder charges, sought the death penalty, and has successfully moved the case beyond January's preliminary hearing.

Gaughan, however, is married to a retired trooper - a member of the union.

Jim Seamon, the union chapter president, said the organization's bylaws prevent him from discussing the reasons behind the endorsement.

Gaughan said the race has nothing to do with Frein. She said she planned to run long before he allegedly trained his rifle on Cpl. Bryon Dickson and Trooper Alex Douglass outside the Blooming Grove Barracks. Dickson died and Douglass has had a long recovery.

Gaughan said her motivation is local issues that include the creation of a veterans court and addressing the county's growing heroin problem.

As a lawyer involved in numerous custody battles and divorces, Gaughan claims to have more courtroom experience than Tonkin.

"It's disgusting that he would try to use a tragedy to bolster his campaign," she added. "But that's not what this is about."

Each campaign is expected to spend $100,000 on TV ads and mailers, for fewer voters than live in Lower Merion Township.

"We've never seen anything like it in the county," said Christopher Decker, chairman of the Pike County Republican Party.

Pike County district attorney was still a part-time job in the 19th-century courthouse less than 10 years ago. Almost all of the cases are heard in one courtroom.

It remains to be seen whether Frein's trial will be held there or in a courthouse far away from this rural stretch of Northeastern Pennsylvania.

"Sometimes there are unintended consequences when you choose to campaign on a highly publicized and emotionally charged case," said Charlie Gerow, a Republican consultant and lawyer based in Harrisburg. "But you can try Eric Frein in any county in America, and he'll be convicted, in my judgment."

Frein remains behind bars, away from the yard signs and TV commercials.

"They get newspapers in the jail," said Weinstein, his attorney. "So I'm sure he's aware there's a race."