A man has entered a not guilty, not criminally responsible plea after being accused of shooting and killing four people, including his parents, before opening fire on Yarmouth’s Interstate 95.
Joseph Eaton pleaded not guilty (Photo: Express)
Quadruple murder of Joseph Eaton
According to wmtw report, Friday afternoon saw Joseph Eaton appear before a judge regarding all accusations brought against him in both Sagadahoc and Cumberland County.
Eaton faced four counts of intentional or knowing murder in the deaths of Robert and Patricia Eger and David and Cynthia Eaton, aggravated cruelty to animals in Sagadahoc County, nine counts of theft of a firearm, possession of a firearm by a prohibited person, and theft.
Eaton’s charges include aggravated attempted murder, six counts of attempted murder with a firearm, three counts of elevated aggravated assault with a firearm, and another count of possession of a firearm by a prohibited person in Cumberland County.
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Joseph Eaton pleaded not guilty
According to the pleas he filed on Friday, a man who told police he killed his parents and their friends and fired at passing cars on a busy freeway may attempt to prove he was insane. Joseph Eaton, a 34-year-old ex-convict, pleaded not guilty and not criminally responsible, giving him the chance to use his insanity as a defense against allegations that included four counts of murder.
In a statement from law enforcement officials, Eaton admitted to the killings at the rural Bowdoin farm as well as to firing at cars on Interstate 295 in Yarmouth, injuring three people. Since his April 18 arrest close to the dramatic scene along the highway, when traffic was backed up while heavily armed police enforcement combed the area, Eaton has been detained.
The bodies were discovered that morning in Bowdoin, days after Eaton’s mother had picked him up from a Maine prison where he had served time for breaking the terms of his probation following an aggravated assault conviction, the most recent in a long line of crimes.
