A Maine man accused of killing four people, including his parents, before going on a random shooting spree on the highway, took responsibility in court late Monday afternoon.Dozens of people sat in the courtroom as Joseph Eaton’s lawyer changed his plea from not guilty to guilty.They recounted the horror of being shot at while driving on the highway and the pain of losing loved ones.
Family and friends of Cynthia and David Eaton and Patti and Bob Eger sobbed as the prosecution described in detail how they were killed by Joseph Eaton. “Their bodies had been dragged over there,” prosecutor Bud Ellis said. “They were laying side by side. They too were covered in a blanket.”“He killed the only four people in the world who actually loved and cared for him,” Kristina DeRaps, who is a relative of Patti and Bob Eger, said. “God will throw his rage at him.”Eaton mostly looked ahead, sometimes glancing at those speaking about those they lost last April, at times appearing to cry, too.
“The hardest part was telling my nephew he’s murdered and convincing my mind that they didn’t suffer,” Patti Eger’s brother Peter DeRaps said.Those survivors detailed the suffering they experienced and still carry with them. “After all this I have survived,” shooting survivor Evangeline Kensell said. “I now suffer from PTSD, anxiety and depression. I can no longer be around guns, fireworks or any loud noises. I am not the happy person I used to be.”They called for him to be punished to the fullest extent of the law, which Eaton and his attorney agreed with.Joseph Eaton says he doesn’t know why he did what he did.Joseph Eaton was sentenced to five life sentences along with the maximum for the other charges.