Freeman Family Murders

The Freeman family murders took place in Salisbury Township, Lehigh County, Pennsylvania on February 26, 1995.  Together with their cousin, Nelson “Ben” Birdwell III, Bryan and David Freeman killed their parents, Brenda and Dennis Freeman, and their 11-year-old brother, Erik Freeman.  For several years the brothers had been embracing neo-Nazi culture, though this had escalated in the months before the killings, with them going so far as to tattoo Nazi slogans on their foreheads.  At the time of the murders, Bryan was 17 years old and David was 16.  Both brothers and their cousin were given life sentences without the possibility of parole, though none of the three were convicted in the murder of Erik Freeman.  It was reported in 2014 that those sentences would be upheld, despite the recent Supreme Court ruling that mandatory life-without-parole sentences were unconstitutional for juveniles convicted of murder.

Freeman Family Murders

Location:  Salisbury Township, Lehigh County, Pennsylvania, U.S.

Date:  February 26, 1995

Attack Type:  Triple murder

Weapons:  Knife, aluminum, baseball bat, wooden pick axe handle

Deaths:  3

Victims:  Dennis Freeman, Brenda Freeman, Erik Freeman

Perpetrators:  Bryan Freeman, David Freeman, Ben Birdwell

References

1.  Admitted kier Bryan Freeman proclaims innocence in mom’s death, The Morning Call.  January 18, 2006.

2.  Police suspect skinhead brothers killed family, The Item.  March 1, 1995.

3.  Conversation with convicted killer Bryan Freeman, WFMZ.  February 25, 2015.

4.  2 of 3 skinheads held in murders start to talk, The Baltimore Sun.  March 29, 1995.

5.  Inmate Locator, Pennsylvania Department of Corrections.

6.  Younger Freeman brother to be tried as an adult for murder in family slaying, Observer-Reporter.  September 7, 1995.

7.  2 Skinhead Brothers Charged With Killing Family Members, The New York Times.  March 3, 1995.

8.  One family’s nightmare, Newsweek.  March 13, 1995.

9.  Life sentences will stand for Salisbury Township’s Freeman brothers who killed parents, Leigh Valley Live.  April 1, 2014.

10.  Freeman brothers remorseful 20 years after murdering their parents, The Morning Call.  February 28, 2015.

11.  Decade after murders, are we safer?, The Morning Call.  February 27, 2005.

12.  Neo-Nazi brothers accused of killing parents, The Independent.  March 3, 1995.

13.  Skinhead Says He Was Unaware Of Accusations Against Freemans, The Morning Call.  March 4, 1995.

14.  Birdwell Faces Trial in Freeman Killings, The Morning Call.  September 22, 1995.

15.  Birdwell To Serve Life In Prison For Murder Birdwell Guilty Of Killing Uncle Verdict Doesn’t Answer The Question Of Who Killed Erik, The Morning Call.  April 27, 1996.

16.  Skinhead given life in prison, pleads guilty to killing mother, Beaver County Times.  December 8, 1995.

17.  Bryan Freeman, one of the ‘Berserker’ brothers, gets new sentencing date, The Morning Call.  April 27, 1996.

18.  Trial Drove Families Apart Verdict Doesn’t End Families’ Grief, Questions, The Morning Call.  April 27, 1996.

19.  Conversation with convicted killer Bryan Freeman, One News Page.  February 24, 2015.

20.  Neo-Nazi Brother to Get New Sentence in Parents’ 1995 Killings, NBC Philadelphia.  March 15, 2016.

21.  Blood Brothers:  The despicable bond between Bryan and David Freeman, The Lineup.

22.  Top 10 Most Evil Kids in History, WatchMojo.com.  December 14, 2015.

23.  IMDb (May 12, 2014).  “Killer Kids:  Allentown Massacre & the Copycat”.  LMN.