BASS, Maine (TCN) — A 35-year-old man changed his plea this week, admitting to shooting his parents and close friends to death in their home and shooting into a car on a highway, injuring several people.
WMTW-TV reports that Joseph Eaton pleaded guilty Monday, July 1, to four counts of intentional homicide, animal cruelty, burglary and theft of a firearm in the deaths of his parents, Cynthia and David Eaton, and their friends Bob and Patty Egger, in Sagadahawk County. Joseph Eaton also shot and killed his parents' dog. He also entered the same plea to attempted felony murder and felony assault charges in Cumberland County in connection with the shooting on I-295.
As a result of these arguments, the judge sentenced Eaton to several life sentences.
On April 18, 2023, at 9:21 a.m., the Sagadahawk County Sheriff’s Office received a call regarding a deceased male at a residence on Augusta Road in Bowden. Deputies arrived on scene and found three victims inside and one victim outside. Their bodies were reportedly covered with a blanket. Deputies arrived at 10:50 a.m. and requested assistance from Maine State Police, who took over the investigation.
Patricia Egger's sister discovered the victims and noticed “several guns scattered throughout the house” and “bullet holes everywhere.”
According to the affidavit, the Eggers lived above the Eatons. David and Cynthia Eaton were supposed to stay with the Eggers until Joseph Eaton returned home from prison. WMTW reported that he was incarcerated in 2021 on assault charges, but has prior criminal convictions in Florida and Kansas.
A Maine State Police detective entered the home and found a note on the kitchen counter that said, “Someone was sexually assaulted and they did nothing about it.” The newspaper also noted that “someone was released from their pain and the person who wrote the note wanted a new life.”
The note was neither written nor signed by anyone.
At 10:28 a.m., about an hour after police arrived at the home, the Augusta Regional Communications Center received a call from a woman reporting that a man was shooting at her car while driving on I-295. The dispatch center learned that Justin Halsey, Paige Halsey, and Sean Halsey had been struck and taken to Maine Medical Center.
Twenty minutes later, the Augusta Regional Communications Center received another call from a man who said he saw a “suspicious man” standing on the side of the road waving his hands in the air. He appeared to be covered in blood.
Maine State Police arrived immediately and arrested Joseph Eaton.
WGME-TV reported that one of Eaton's relatives, Patricia Egger and Robert Egger, said at Eaton's sentencing, “He killed the only four people in the world who loved him and cared about him. God is going to throw his wrath on him.”
“I now suffer from PTSD, anxiety and depression,” one of the women who survived a highway shooting told her sentencing hearing. “I can no longer be around guns, fireworks and loud noises. I am not the happy person I used to be.”
Eaton reportedly apologized for his actions, adding: “I think I deserve life in prison, and frankly I think I deserve worse.”
more: