Tiffany Dickson describes family's devastation after the ambush

By Marilyn Rosenthal
MILFORD — Tiffany Dickson is an emergency nurse and a "get it done now" type of person. But losing her husband has undermined her customary resolve.
"I'm pro-active, but I couldn't help my own kids," she told the jury as she talked about her family's devastation after the shooting ambush that took the life of Cpl. Bryon Dickson II. Eric Matthew Frein was convicted Wednesday of first-degree murder and terrorism in the case, and the jury must now decide on his sentence.
Dickson said her sons are struggling.
"He's had horse therapy, art therapy, and is still having problems," Dickson said of "Little Bryon." "Adam, the second grader, is failing out of school. He gets lots of F's on his report card."
Dickson is still in a deep state of grief. She's trying to keep busy, working on her master's degree in leadership and administration online.
But, she said, speaking about herself in the third person, "She is no longer Tiffany Dickson. People refer to her as the widow of the slain trooper. No one knows his name. She is not a wife."
Her desolation is enduring.
"I have no support," she said. "I don't have a break. It's just me. It's very lonely. He was my break. We were really good teammates. I have no one to hold hands with now."
District Attorney Ray Tonkin gently asked Dickson how she and Bryon met. Her face lit up as she talked about their first meeting at Penn State Scranton, their joyous courtship, and their 10-year marriage. Pictures flashed on screen showing the happy couple together, first just the two of them, and later with Bryon III and Adam. Photos showed the four of them vacationing at Myrtle Beach and on cruises.
Dickson teared up.
She said she and her husband, who graduated from the Pennsylvania Police Academy and achieved the rank of corporal, were high achievers who worked hard and played hard.
She described the night of Sept. 12, 2014, when Cpl. Dickson was gunned down.
Two troopers and a priest came to her door at 11:40 p.m. and asked if they could come in.
"No," she said. "If he's not dead, you can go back to the barracks."
Then she asked, "Is he dead?"
"Yes, he's been killed," they said.
She then said, "Come on in and we'll get things rolling." She said there were arrangements to be made.
The children woke at 5 a.m. to about 20 people in the house.
"Daddy's been shot and killed, and there are a lot of people here to help us. I'm here," Dickson told her children.
They were devastated. At this point in her story, Dickson began to really cry. There not many dry eyes in the gallery.
"Little Bryon started to scream," she said. :He said he wanted to die — to see daddy so they could die together. He had neurological problems, couldn't eat, had anger problems and started bullying kids at school."
Pleas for justice and mercyIt is up the prosecution to show all of the aggravating circumstances to warrant the death penalty for Frein. And it is up to the defense to show as many mitigating circumstances as possible to get a lesser charge for Frein, of life in prison without parole.
Judge Gregory H. Chelak told the jury that all the evidence previously submitted in the evidentiary phase of the trial can still be considered. Each of the 12 counts of which Frein was convicted can be considered an aggravating circumstance, he said.
First Assistant Attorney General Bruce DeSarro said in his opening argument that he intended to show that the path of devastation Frein caused went well beyond Blooming Grove barracks. It came to the doorstep of Cpl. Bryon Dickson's family. Their hopes and dreams had been shattered, he said, and the two little boys, ages 5 and 7, "would never see their Daddy again."
"This devastation is different from physical devastation," DeSarro said. "It extended to parents, friends, family members, and to an entire community."
DeSarro asked the jury to assign a weight to the aggravating circumstances: killing a police officer, trying to destroy the principles of this country, committing a violent act to inspire others.
"Bryon Dickson was a young man — a human being," said DeSarro. "He was more than a uniform. It was not the U.S. Marine uniform or the Pennsylvania State Police uniform that gave honor to Dickson. It was Dickson who gave honor to the uniform."
Defense Attorney William Ruzzo followed DeSarro's introduction, and it did not seem an easy task. He said the defense would bring up various mitigating factors. But what could have been done to prevent this tragedy? he asked. We don't know, he said. People tried to work with Eric.
"There is no scale," said Ruzzo. "The weighing process is an individual matter, not a standard."
He asked for mercy and sympathy to spare his client's life.
A photo on the big screen showed Bryon and Tiffany with their two boys sitting on a bench on a beautiful sunny day. The caption read, "FULL JUSTICE."

Listen to Ray Tonkin comments after Frein's Conviction Reporter Preston Ehrler spoke with Pike County District Attorney Ray Tonkin Thursday evening about the upcoming sentencing phase of the trial.