A person who confessed to killing each his mother and father and two of their buddies earlier than firing at motorists on a busy interstate freeway in Maine has mentioned via a lawyer that he plans to enter pleas to resolve his felony case
WEST BATH, Maine — A person who confessed to killing each his mother and father and two of their buddies earlier than capturing at motorists on a freeway plans to enter pleas Monday that can resolve his felony case, his lawyer mentioned.
Joseph Eaton withdrew his madness protection late final yr and his protection lawyer informed The Related Press that they anticipate “resolving” the indictments for 4 counts of homicide and different expenses throughout a change-of-plea listening to.
Prosecutors declined touch upon any plea settlement forward of the court docket listening to.
Regulation enforcement officers say Eaton confessed to the killings on a property in rural Bowdoin, and to wounding three extra individuals whereas capturing at autos on Interstate 295 in Yarmouth. The shootings got here days after Eaton was launched from jail for unrelated crimes. Eaton has been jailed again since his arrest in April 2023 close to the tumultuous scene alongside the freeway, the place visitors got here to a halt as closely armed police looked for the gunman.
These killed had been Eaton’s mother and father, Cynthia Eaton, 62, and David Eaton, 66, together with longtime buddies Robert Eger, 72, and Patti Eger, 62, the couple who owned the Bowdoin dwelling the place all of them had been staying. Additionally killed was the household canine, leading to an animal cruelty cost.
Quickly after the our bodies had been found on April 18, 2023, three people were injured when photographs had been fired wildly on I-295 in Yarmouth, about 12 miles (20 kilometers) outdoors Portland, Maine’s greatest metropolis. Eaton confronted separate indictments as a result of the 2 shootings on the Bowdoin dwelling and on the freeway occurred in numerous counties.
Maine Public Security Commissioner Michael Sauschuck known as the shootings “an assault on the soul of our state.” However the heavy toll of the crime was surpassed months later when an Military reservist, who additionally lived in Bowdoin, killed 18 individuals at two places in Lewiston, in what would grow to be the state’s deadliest mass capturing.
Police nonetheless don’t know Eaton’s motive for the slayings.
An unsigned word discovered on the scene of the killings talked about “somebody being freed of ache and that the author of the word wished a brand new life,” in response to a felony affidavit. Eaton informed the Portland Press Herald newspaper in jailhouse interviews that he was not accountable for his actions on the time of the shootings and did not perceive why he did it.
Eaton, 35, had a felony historical past in Maine, Kansas and Florida, and had simply accomplished a jail stint in Maine triggered by an aggravated assault case. Eaton’s mother and father had been staying with their buddies in Bowdoin after Cynthia Eaton picked up Joseph Eaton at a Maine jail on April 14.
